RECLAIMING SANDY WASTES

Chronicle (Levin), 1 August 1947, Page 4

RECLAIMING SANDY WASTES

NEED SEEN FOR LARGE SCALE NATIONAL EFFORT Though there was as yet insuificient evidence of its po-entialitieS for him to advocate a rush to buy this type of land, he could not help but indulge in a few speculative thoughts on the ultimate development of the vast blocks of sand country such as existed . between Paekakariki and the Rangitikei River. He firmly believed that with State co-operation and planning this. type of country could be de~ Veloped. Expressing this opinion ' when speaking to members of the Levin branch of Federated Farmers, Mr. Bruce Levy, of the Department of Seientific and Industrial Research, said that though experiments had been carried out and a certain amount of this country successfuily treated, nothing on a large scale had yet been attempted. The problem was one which Could be taken up with the help of the Soil Conservation Council and Public Works Department. Vast quahtities of sand were movihg inland and creating a menace there. Every eifort should be made to stabilise this shifting sand and build it out seaward, at the same time preventing it from creeping inland. Thus much valuable land could be saved and considerable areas of now useless sand wastes if properly treated, transformed into fertile land, making up for land lost from the hills through erosion. Spinifiex and marrum grasses were invaluable for this work, but for successful results the sand had to be piled on the crown and the plants protected from the wind, said Mr. Levy. Pinghao was another excellent sand stabiliser. Mahkua fences were often used successfully as wind breaks.' Any breaks in the sand dunes should be repaired irnmediately, otherwise the sand would creep back inland. The Buabilisation of tall dunes was a problem and he thought that the only real answer to it was the wholesale levelling off of these "mountains of. sand" where. convenient. The cost of .course would be high, but other countries had dohe it with excellent results. A wholesale campaign incorporating the Use of bulldozers carryalls and other modern mechanical equipment was necessary, but he firmly believed that the results would mqre than compensate for the cost, and some of the finest grasslands in the world would result from the levelling out and reatment ?f this type of country. i't had been done during the war in the formation of aerodromes. The wholesale dumping of sand in our vast swamp country was also a suggestion put forward by the speaker. Attempts were being made to fix dunes with trees, but Mr. Levy hought that care should be exercised in this.method of binding, so that the plantations did not encroach on the sand plains behind the dunes, which could be made into fertile land. He advocated the dumping of sand from the tall dunes into hollows in the plains behind, rather than draining them out. Excessive draining was detrimental. Red clover was the best type of'pasture for sowing in wet cand hollows during the initial stages of the reclamation. Ulusi rating the type of work that has so far been done in this regard, the speaker by way of lantern slides showed how Maior R. n

Wilson, of Himitangi, had developed much land bought freehold in 1909 at 6s an acre into -a prosperous farnij on parts of which he was now grazmg a cow to an acre, while another farm purchased at- the same time on similar land, but not treated, had. actually deteriorated to a great extent. The heavy stocking of such land was benefieial to its development, providing there was adequate feed for the percentage of stock carried. The planting out of subterranean clover and liberal use of phosphate was the key to the" development of poor land.. Much of his hopes for the development of this waste land was purely speculative, said Mr. Levy but he would not be happy until he knew that something on a large Scale was being done.