AFFORESTATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2629, 6 September 1923, Page 3

AFFORESTATION.

WORK ON SAND DUNES. THE RANGITIKEI EXPERIMENT In the annual report of the Forestry Department, the Director, Captain Mclntosh Ellis, refers U> the experiment of reclamation of sand dune areas by means of afforestation, and in this connection he says:— At the sand-dune experiment station at the mouth of the Rangitikei River, formed in 1921 for the intensive study of this nationally important problem of reclaiming the 300,000 acres of New Zealand sand wastes, invaluable results have already? been obtained, although the experiments are not yet completed. A meteorological station was installed so that it will be possible scientifically to correlate conditions in other sand dune areas when the fixation of the latter is attempted. It is upon the formation of that essential barrier to further drifting —the littoral sand dune, the first and principal step in reclaiming sand dunes —that experimental work has been concentrated during the past year. The basis of these experiments was the experience gained from similar works in other coun- • tries; but owing to the great cost of erecting palisade fences, the timber for which would have to be brought from a distance, and to the inefficiency of log walls, due to the particularly severe westerly winds, a cheap type of fence has been made of manuka scrub obtained locally and this fence has proved more successful than the expensive palisade type. A less successful, fence was one constructed of flax-blades and two fencing wires, this type being reasonably efficacious and cheap, as flax is obtained in far greater quantities in the locality than manuka* During the year 3001 b of marram seed were harvested, sixty acres were planted with marram, grass, and 52 acres of sand flats

were sown with marram seed. Broadcast sowings of pine, broom, and marram seed mixture have been commenced, the sand surface being strewn with rushes. Experiments are to be conducted during the coming planting season with a light disc plough which it will be possible to use on at least half the area to be planted: This will greatly reduce planting costs. Sowing of tree- ; seeds on prepared spots has been begun, the most successful species being Pinus radiata, with Pinus pinaster second. Of the trees planted experimentally in 1921, also, Pinus radiata is easily the most promising species. The exclusion of stock from the reclamation area for a brief perio # d has had the effect of promoting remarlcablv abundant na-. tural regeneration of marram grass and sedges. During the year the sand dune advisory committee, formed of several local residents, paid a visit of inspection to the station, and to one of'these gentlemen the service is specially indebted for seeds ‘and'cuttings provided.