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IRISH GARDENING. 



♦MRISH GARDENING/' 



AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY. 



Offices— 53 Upper Sackville Street. Dublin. 



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Larch Disease in Ireland. 



By A. C. FORBES, Director, Forestry Station, Avondale, 



SEVERAL of the witnesses recently examined 

 before the Departmental Committee on 

 Irish Forestry suggested that Ireland was 

 quite free from the disease which is causing so 

 much havoc in larch plantations in England, 

 Scotland, and Wales. Unfortunately such is 

 not the case. It not only occurs widely 

 throughout the country, but many instances of 

 badly diseased plantations may be met with in 

 most counties of Ireland, although it has not 

 as yet reached such a serious stage of virulence 

 as in other parts of the British Isles. The 

 exact period at which it first made its appear- 

 ance in Irish woods is not recorded. Apparently 

 it existed long before its presence was sus- 

 pected, and the recent attention bestowed upon 

 woods on many estates tended to foster an 

 indifference on the subject which now appears 

 to be replaced by undue anxiety. 



While, however, it is too serious a disease to 

 regard altogether with equanimity, owners of 

 woodlands may be reassured to some extent by 

 the knowledge that the disease has been in the 

 country for at least a quarter of a century with- 

 out causing serious damage or affecting the 

 value of larch woods in general, with ordinary 

 precaution in the choice of soils and situations, 

 and the adoption of such measures as were 

 recommended in the October number of the 

 Department's journal. There is a fair prospect 

 that the growing of larch for commercial pur- 

 poses may not be seriously interfered with. 



But one important factor in warding off larch 

 disease lies in the power of every planter if he 

 chooses to attend to it. With many persons 

 the axiom that trees will grow in Ireland how- 

 ever carelessly they are planted or " stuck in " 

 has been accepted far too readily. With a 

 damp climate and mild, open winters, it is true 

 that transplanting has everything in its favour; 

 but allowing full credit for this fact, others 

 must be considered as well. One of these is 

 the check which is given to almost all trees by 



the process of transplanting under ordinary 

 conditions, and which is aggravated by drought, 

 inferior soil, and unfavourable conditions for 

 planting. A temporary check confined to the 

 first season is not often a serious matter, but 

 too frequently this check is extended, through 

 various causes, for two, three, or even more 

 years, and when such is the case the larch often 

 gets into a stunted condition, from which it 

 seldom recovers. One of the most frequent 

 causes of this may be found in the rank growth of 

 grass, heather, or other forms of vegetation with 

 which groimd recently planted is often covered. 

 The larch being a surface rooter, its growth 

 under such conditions is bound to be affected, 

 and it is not until this growth of vegetation is 

 weakened or killed out by shade that the tree 

 can be said to exist under normal conditions 

 so far as root action is concerned. To prove 

 this, let any planter of larch pare off the 

 surface growth of turf from a few square 

 yards of land, and compare the growth made 

 by the trees planted there with that of 

 those planted in turf or heather. Given 

 equal conditions in every other respect, the 

 growth of the plants in cleared ground during 

 the first three years will be about as fast again 

 as that of plants round about them. Without 

 going too closely into the reasons for this, it 

 will be sufficient to say that careful planting, 

 which provides for some preparation of the soil 

 by ploughing, hole digging, or breaking up of 

 some kind, according to the requirements and 

 possibilities of each case, is the best and safest 

 plan in all cases where larch is being planted. 

 The choice of stout, well-rooted plants, careful 

 protection of the roots from drying winds, 

 and general attention to details, are all aids to 

 successful planting, and although it would be 

 going too far to say that a tree properly planted 

 will continue free from disease, the commence- 

 ment of its career under favourable conditions 

 often goes a long way towards its ultimate 

 success. We have seen larch trees planted in 

 such a way that their failure was only a matter 

 of a few months in any case, and hundreds of 

 instances have been met with where they have 

 only survived after a long and protracted 

 struggle. These are direct incentives to disease 

 in any case, and small wonder is it that it 

 appears in a more or less aggravated form 

 sooner or later. 



Tree Planting in Co. Longford. — Mr. William 

 Johnston informs us that the Agfricultural Committee of 

 the Coimty of Long'ford are making arrangements for 

 an " Arbor Day" to be observed on a date in February 

 not yet definitely fixed. Mr. Johnston adds that, in 

 the matter of tree-planting-, the people of Long-ford 

 have taken the matter up with great spirit, and that 

 arrangements are being made for the immediate 

 planting of over 3,000 fruit trees, under the County 

 Scheme of Horticulture. . 



