MAY 



IRISH GARDENING 



11 



technical character as to greatly impair the value of 

 their book to any one who is not acquainted with the 

 scientific names of things arboricultural and their 

 familiar every-day translations. This means to pro- 

 bably 95 per cent, of the g-eneral public. Mr. Forbes 

 all through strives to express himself in the simplest 

 and plainest and least technical language, thus adding 

 greatly to the value of his book, and, incidentally, to 

 his own reputation. 



Thus in the chapter on "Climate and Tree Growth" 

 the climatic requirements of our different well-known 

 trees are described minutely, yet with perfect simplicity, 

 taking them month by month through their growing 

 seasons. And it is explained how these requirements are 

 met, or are not met, by the average conditions in the 

 British Isles generally and in different localities. The 

 effects of elevation are described, and the fact pointed 

 out that while with us 1.500 feet is the extreme height 

 in favoured spots at which anything like commercial 

 timber can be produced, and 2,000 feet the probable 

 limit of even the most dwarfed grown, though in 

 Central Europe the greatly higher elevation of the 

 mountain ranges and the'effects of a more Continental 

 climate permit of useful timber being grown at 4,000 

 and even 6,000 feet. 



Mr. Forbes gives a very interesting table on page 98 

 showing the maximum recorded heights of trees 

 in the British Isles. The Irish records are as 

 follow : — 



It is probable that there are unrecorded trees in 

 Ireland that would equal or rival these heights, and it 

 would be of great interest if any of the readers of Irish 

 Gardening can give information on this subject. Of 

 course the measurements should be accurate, and not 

 mere estimates. 



Further on we find chapters on ' ' Soil and Surface Con- 

 ditions," " Methods and Practice," and the " Economic 

 Value of Forest Flora," in every page of which there 

 is information that will be of use to the practical man 

 as well as to the rural economist. We can forgive 

 .Mr. Forbes if he jeers a little unkindly at the enthusiast 

 who presses that the State should wave its magic wand 

 and clothe the bare hillsides from base to summit with 

 flourishing forests irrespective of soil or exposure, or 



any other condition. Mr. Forbes is evidently afraid 

 that the magic wand would boil down in Mr. Forbes 

 himself as head of the Forestry Service, and he does not 

 want to be "waved" into attempting what he believes 

 impossible. 



As showing it to be impossible he illustrates the 

 attempt to plant Knocklong in Connemara some fifteen 

 years ago by the Congested Districts Board, but he 

 does not make it clear that the failure in this case was 

 due, as every practical man admits, not to the ground 

 being absolutely unplantable, but to an unfortunate 

 effort to accomplish the object in too great a hurry, and 

 without taking the necessary precautions to establish 

 shelter, and to reclaim to some extent the soil before 

 planting. The site is as difficult as could well be selected, 

 water-logged peat sloping gently down to the wide 

 Atlantic. As a commercial speculation no one would 

 suggest planting such an area, but there were other 

 reasons for making the venture, and its failure has too 

 often been unfairly quoted as an insuperable argument 

 against "waste land" afforestation. 



The last chapter is on "The State and Private 

 Owners," and again the author breaks away from the 

 tradition of former writers, and not only recognises the 

 instance of the small owner or occupier who plants or 

 cares for his few trees, but actually asserts that he is a 

 good man not only improving his own land and his 

 home, but that he is adding his steady service for the 

 well-being of the whole district in which he lives. 

 This is urged most strongly, and it is delightful to find 

 that it is so thoroughly understood and appreciated. 

 The necessity of State aid to private planting is strongly 

 insisted on, but no less strongly the importance of 

 private aid to State planting. That is to say, that the 

 individual must do his share and not leave everything 

 to the State. 



To show the admirably broad-minded view taken bj^ 

 Mr. Forbes one quotation — one of many that suggest 

 themselves — must be given : — 



" The economic importance of shelter and ornamental 

 trees has usually been ignored or disparaged. The 

 timber they produce is often small, knotty and defective 

 in many ways. In field and hedgerows they may 

 interfere with the operations of agriculture or the 

 ripening of crops. By roadsides they may be a sort of 

 danger in stormy weather, and the cause of slow 

 evaporation from the surface in wet periods. All these 

 objections may be made by persons of scrupulous 

 economy, who believe the world w-as made to make 

 money in. With all due respect to these authorities, 

 however, it may be pointed out that the civilised world 

 is made up of man}- features which are not strictly 

 economic, while others are positively wasteful. Yet 

 both classes are considered the accompaniments of 

 civilisation and refinement. ... A moderate number 

 of ornamental trees in any country is a necessity if its 

 landscape is to be made attractive and the land a 

 pleasant place to live in, for only the very poor or the 

 very ignorant live amid ugly surroundings." 



There are over seventy excellent illustrations from 

 photographs, a number of useful tables, and an 

 index. 



A. E, MOERAN. 



