Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.09.1970, Page 51

landgræðslutilraun á sprengisandi 49
seeding a Danish strain o£ Festuca rubra (30 kg/hectare) in 1,964 m2 plots and
applying fertilizer corresponding to 350 kg ammonium nitrate, 350 kg triple
superphosphate and 100 kg potassium chloride per hectare for the following
eight years. Annually the vegetation was measured and the increase of species
and numbers of plants recorded.
The seeding of Festuca rubra failed, but some of the native plants of the
area were stimulated by tlie fertilizer. And at the end of the eight year period
both grasses and broad leaf plants had occupied the previously bare plot, and
the vegetation covered, by then, 70—80% of its suríace. The experiment in-
dicates that by fertilization alone it seems possible to improve the native vegeta-
tion on this desert. The mat of vegetation resulting from the cultivation will
increase the waterretention of the land and check movement of the erosive sand
surface and will thus stabilize the Thjórsá waterbasin. This will in turn de-
crease the rate of silting in the river and should be beneficial for the production
of hydro electric power.
The improved vegetation of the wasteland may also be used as a summer
pasture for sheep and will furthermore be of advantage for geese and other
members of the district’s fauna.
HEIMILDARRIT
Bruun, Daniel, 1902: Sprengisandur. Geograf-
isk Tidskrift 16: 219—242.
Friðriksson, Sturla, 1969: Uppgræðslutilraur.
á Tungnaáröræfum. Isl. landbún. 1: 38—44.
Hrafnkels saga. Reykjavík.
JÓNASSON, Hallgrímur, 1967: Sprengisandur.
Arbók Ferðafélagsins: 1 — 191.
EiNARSSON, Markús Á., 1970: Veðurfræði. (Fjöl-
rit.)
Njáls saga. Reykjavík.
PÁLSSON, Páll A., 1962: Norður Arnarfellsveg,
Fjöll og Austurdal. Hesturinn okkar 3: 30
-36.
SteindÓRSSON, Steindór, 1938: Suður fjöll.
Nýjar kvöldvökur 31: 1 — 15.