SAND RECLAMATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1921, Page 7

SAND RECLAMATION.

ARRESTING THE SAND DRIFT. SOME INTERESTING PARTICULARS.. Recently the Ahipara Gum Company wrote to the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, asking for information regarding sand reclamation and the methods to be followed to obtain the desired end. Ahipara is away in the Far North, at the beginning of the Ninety Mile Beach, which extends to the farthest point of the northern peninsula, and is chiefly noted for the extent of the Maori population, the plentitude of its shell fish, and the salubrity of its climate. The Taranaki chamber referred the matter to Captain Wm. Wilier, the harbormaster, who has made a close study of sand reclamation, and has himself conducted some highly successful experiments at the breakwater, and has succeeded in arresting the sand drift that formerly gave the Harbor Board so much trouble. In the course of his reply, which has been duly forwarded to the Ahipara Company, Captain Waller says:— I would advise starting brushwood fences just above high water mark. These can be cheaply constructed with stakes driven in the sand and three wires, the brush being woven in between them. Any shrubby plants, will do for the brush, but ti-tree, taukinu and macrocarpa are hard to beat for the purpose. As soon as the fence is completed, if the weather is no? too dry, commence and plant marram grass. This will form a mound and arrest the sand from it onward march, cutting off the supply to leeward. When the plants are well established, lupin seeds may be sown and more fences to leeward may be erected as may be necessary, and marram planted. The point is to hold the sand from the starting point near high water mark, and prevent its drift. All grazing animals should be excluded, as they break the surface, and allow the wind to propel and scour out breaches in the sand. It is surprising how quickly the land benefits from the decaying leaves of the lupins, and grasses get established, especially prairie grass. I believe the whole of the sandy wastes in the Far North, if judiciously treated, could be made available for grazing purposes. The Maoris near the breakwater have a fine crop of potatoes and cabbages growing on sandy land that has been-cleared of lupins. The accumulation of humus for some years has made it possible for them to do so. I would recommend in sheltered places establishing a plantation of macrocarpa trees, for a future supply of brushwood for the fences. Scatte? bushels of taupata (coprosma baveriana) seeds if you can get them, over the area. They grow quickly and stand the salt spray and cutting winds; also karo and karaka seeds. The lupins are now well established on the south side of Manakau Heads, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Ocean Beach, Dunedin, and possibly many other places unknown to me.