126 FOBESTRY TEE PIONEER OF AGRICULTURE. [Dec, 



and continental countries ; and when we do this we must at once 

 admit the importance of the question at issue. In round numbers, 

 I believe it is admitted that 16 per cent, of the area of France is 

 occupied by woods, 23 per cent, of the area of Prussia, 31 per cent, of 

 Austria, 42 1 per cent, of Eussia ; whereas in great Britain only 4 per 

 cent, of the area is occupied by woods, and only 1| per cent, of 

 Ireland. Certainly a striking contrast when compared with the 

 countries we have named. Only 2,500,000 acres of land are under 

 timber in the United Kingdimi as shown by the Board of Trade 

 returns this year, about 125,000 acres of which are held by the 

 Crown, the rest by private proprietors. The Crown last season 

 certainly made a small addition to the area it held under forests, 

 but of a very trifling extent, when it is considered how much land is 

 so held that might be judiciously and profitably planted. I do not 

 think it will be necessary to attempt, here, to demonstrate the 

 great advantages that are derived by our agricultural friends from 

 judicious planting. The fact is self-evident to practical foresters, &c., 

 such as I have the pleasure of submitting my views to here. Shelter 

 is afforded as the trees grow and increase in size, and injurious 

 climatic influences are materially affected, modified, and made 

 .subservient to man's wants and best interests. This matter is easily 

 demonstrated and illustrated by a careful observation of the hilly and 

 mountainous districts in our own country, where forestry has been 

 studied and encouraged in the past. Now closely following tlie 

 planting of trees, have we the breaking up of the hitherto waste 

 lands carried out, causing the latent, barren and unfruitful ground to 

 carry a beautiful green carpet of valuable herbage, intersected here 

 and there with forests containing trees possessed of various hues 

 of colour, beautifying the general landscape and enhancing the value 

 of surrounding property. This is the result of a proper practical 

 application of forestry ; but how much land is there still to possess ? 

 and now that the subject is assuming definite proportions and 

 demanding the attention of our legislators, is it not the duty of 

 foresters, with their practical knowledge of the question at issue, to 

 make themselves felt and heard ? I am not here to-day to discuss 

 the merits or dem.erits of the Irish Land Bill, nor to either com- 

 mend or condemn this measure in its general application, but I 

 cannot leave the question of legislation as affecting land tenure 

 without pointing out what I consider a serious defect in the Irish 

 Land Bill, as it regards forestry, and that is this. There are many 

 hundreds, nay thousands, of acres of land now used as sheep walks of 

 comparatively little value for the purpose for which they are used, 

 and in many cases let at 2s., and even less than Is. per acre, which 

 could be planted with great advantage to the proprietor, which 



