CHECKING DRIFT SAND.
Mr. Stevenson recommended Lord Palmerston to introduce the Pinus maritima major, as a check for sand drift, on his estate of Mullaghmore, in the following report, dated 21st July 1835:—
“During the reporter’s visit to Mullaghmore, his advice was also asked regarding the operations at present going on for the improvement of the land. He had then much satisfaction in viewing the interesting improvements of reclaiming bog lands, and checking the inroads of the sand flood or drift, by planting ‘bent’ grass upon the shores of this estate. The system of dibbling the bent grass, pursued by Mr. Lynch, is in the best style which the reporter has anywhere met with; and he has been so impressed with the national importance of this scheme, from the success already experienced at Mullaghmore, that he has already taken the opportunity of recommending this system as applicable to the entrance of Ballyshannon, and in other quarters, particularly to the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.
“The question chiefly submitted to the consideration of the reporter, in regard to these operations, was the best mode of defending the margin of the bent grass towards the sea. For such purposes, buildings or fences of any kind are not only expensive in their formation, but are also in constant need of repair. Mr. Lynch seems so much at home in all planting operations that the reporter begs simply to bring under your Lordship’s notice the French mode of planting a species of fir (Pinus maritima major), which was originally suggested to the Government by the late M. Bremonteuil, Ingénieur des Ponts et Chaussées. This system has been extensively tried along the stormy shores of the Bay of Biscay, particularly in the district of Grave, at the entrance of the Garonne, where the arid and sterile sands have been covered with extensive forests, which thrive quite close to the water’s edge. From the climate and exposure of the shores at Mullaghmore, the reporter has no doubt of the success of similar plantations in arresting the progress of the sand flood. It is believed that Mr. Lawson, seedsman to the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, is taking measures to import the seeds of the Pinus maritima major, with a view to trying it on some of the exposed sandy districts of Scotland.”
From the following extract of a letter from Mr. Kincaid of Dublin, who was Lord Palmerston’s Commissioner, it is interesting to know that the experiment was entirely satisfactory, proving that the Pinus maritima major is well adapted to the climate of the coasts of the British Isles:—
“The Mullaghmore plantations extend to about 200 acres. About eighty of these were planted twenty-five years ago. Some of the trees are thirty feet in height, and vary from that height to about twenty or twenty-five feet. The remainder were planted ten years ago, and are making fair progress. All the pine plantations from opposite Newtown Cliffony to Mullaghmore are in a most healthy condition, the trees making growths of from twelve to twenty inches each year. The storms have no bad effect on the south side of the great sand hill, but on its summit, and towards the west side, the spray and gales of the Atlantic will not allow the young trees to make any progress.”