FIXATION OF SAND DRAFTS

Otaki Mail, 6 March 1922, Page 4

FIXATION OF SAND DRAFTS

“At the present time it is not possible 10 state wliai the .sand fixation work will cost; the experiments now under way are designed to solve tins question,” states Mr ii, A. Goudie, ;n an a'rtiole in the monthly news-letter or the State Forest Service. “Tfie cost of fixing the sand on a drift may possibly be as much as £25 per acie, hut it should be borne in mind that tiie fixation ,oi the main drills wnl ! nil tad piijteciiun to large adjacent : areas, and allow the plant covering to become re-established by nafujai means. The cost, therefore, \\ iicri spread over tire whole area intiueuced he the work done will bring the average expenditure per acre very much below this figure. The cost of jeciamaiion should be regarded as t charge upon the valuable agricultural land which the reclamation work is designed xo jqrotect, and not agaia*.* any tree-plan ling which .subsequently may be done i.o give permanence u> such reclamation. H the .expenditure is regained in this light, JhS'h cau he no doubt that the forest crop Which the sand dunes are capable of growing will be- a payable one. Tins i c especially true of the dunes on the West Coast of Wellington, adjacent ? o which are large areas of long-set-iled fann lands and convenient railway facilities fpr marketing the crop of timber,”