DRIFTING SAND.
Along portions of the west c<»a<t of the North Island very large areas of land have been rendered worthless by tho encroachment- of sand dunes. It is calculated, indeed, that there are 290,000 acres thus rendered unusable, and all the eiforts ol lo f, al bodies and individuals have so tar laib'd to find a remedy. In some parts the sand is still advancing upon fertile agricultural land, to the alarm of the owners. The Government has had the question reported upon from time to time,- without practical result, however, and now a sum of 11000 has been voted to carry our experimental work, and if necessary a further £SOO will be voted. A departmental officer has paid a visit to Otaki, where the menace is particularly threatening, with a view to trying certain experiments, though of what nature we are unaware. The use of binding grasses and plants is the most frequently adopted method. In Taranaki the lupin has proved most successful, not only stopping further sand encroachment, but enabling sand bills to be grnduallv reclaimed. The Taranaki Herald thinks it. would be a cheap experiment—and probably effectual —to take a few truck loads of sand and soil from among the lupins on tjie sand hills at Motorua. to some place down the coast where other means of checking the sand drift have failed. This would be full of seed contained in a suitable seed bed, so that it would have a much better chance of germinating and growing than if the seed only were gathered there and scattered at Otaki or wherever the experiment was tried and the cost of the experiment would ba very trifling.
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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10714, 5 October 1912, Page 4
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280DRIFTING SAND. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10714, 5 October 1912, Page 4
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