134 



IRISH GARDENING. 



limited scale, is consequently out of the question, 

 whether from an economic or a political point 

 of view. Any planting- on a large scale must 

 take place on a class of soil and situation which 

 is by no means uniformly distributed through- 

 out the country, and if the work of reafforesta- 

 tion were confined to this alone many parts of 

 Ireland would be more destitute of trees in the 

 future than they have been in the past. 



The urgent necessity for finding some solution 

 of this problem has been prominently brought 

 to the front by the operation of recent Land 

 Acts, which have converted large numbers of 

 occupiers of holdings into owners of the latter. 

 Considerable tracts which formerly formed part 

 of large estates, the owners of which had both 

 the means and the inclination to plant and main- 

 tain woods, plantations, and hedgerow trees, 

 have now been split up into small properties, 

 owned by men whose means are often limited 

 and whose inclinations run more in the direction 

 of agriculture and stock-rearing, with their 

 more immediate returns, than in tree-planting 

 for the improvement of the landscape. The 

 smaller the holding the less inclined is the 

 holder to allow trees to take up space on it, and 

 with an increase in small holdings a decrease 

 in trees will take place unless means are taken 

 to preserve and renew them from time to time. 

 A careful survey of the whole situation con- 

 vinces one that the individual landowner alone is 

 in a position to plant and preserve trees in such a 

 manner as to enable the country to present a 

 well-wooded appearance in all parts, excepting 

 perhaps those in which physical difficulties 

 exist. Government action may, if funds are 

 provided, raise the percentage of woodland to a 

 higher figure than is now the case, but the 

 aesthetic reafforestation of Ireland or the con- 

 version of tame and monotonous landscapes 

 into leafy prospects can alone be accomplished 

 by individual effort and action throughout 

 three-fourths of the country. Shapely park and 

 hedgerow trees, avenues, clumps, belts and 

 screens, and the innumerable combinations of 

 tree-growth, are most potent factors in beauti- 

 fying the land generally than large forests in a 

 few districts and an entire absence of trees else- 

 where. While the smallest holder must be 

 allowed to make the most of his land for agri- 

 cultural purposes, the owners of medium and 

 large-sized farms should, however, be en- 

 couraged in every way to preserve such timber 

 as they now possess or to plant in moderation 

 where such is deficient. The question is, how 

 should such encouragement be given so as to 

 lead to practical results ? The average farmer 

 has usually his hands full of ordinary farm 

 work, and can find little time to spare for tree 

 planting, while the question of expense has also 

 to be faced. To such several advantages must 



be provided before planting can become popular 

 in any form. Cheap trees of a suitable size and 

 condition, consisting of species adapted to the 

 soil and situation, and assistance or instruction 

 in planting, must all be provided before the 

 average farmer will take the trouble to turn the 

 odd corners and waste places of his farm to 

 account by tree-growing. Given such advan- 

 tages, the example set by a few enterprising 

 men will gradually be followed, not perhaps by 

 all, but certainly by a fair number, and spme- 

 thing done to give the country a warm and 

 sheltered appearance. Already several county 

 councils have adopted schemes of assistance on 

 some such lines as the above, but further 

 developments are necessary if much progress 

 is to be made. Trees of the correct size and in 

 just the right condition for successful trans- 

 planting to ordinary farm land are not always 

 easily obtained. In the first place, public 

 nurseries in Ireland are few and far between, 

 and the removal of trees from them to distant 

 spots is a tedious and expensive process. Then, 

 again, the average nurseryman has to cater for 

 a variety of customers, and cannot always find 

 opportunities of raising the exact class of tree 

 which is wanted for this work, while the de- 

 mand for such hitherto has been small and 

 irregular. Deficiencies and obstacles which 

 now hinder the work of farm tree-planting- 

 might be largely met and removed by small 

 local nurseries maintained by county councils 

 in different parts of their respective counties for 

 the purpose of growing trees suitable for the 

 average farmer and smaller landowner. Such 

 nurseries would not, of course, be of an 

 elaborate nature, nor aim at producing any- 

 thing beyond a limited variety suited to the 

 district, and likely to be of use as well as orna- 

 ment. An important feature of them would be 

 the facility they would give of speedy planting 

 after the trees had been lifted, and thus avoid 

 that more or less inevitable drying- of the roots 

 of trees which takes place with ordinary 

 packing during transit by rail, and is a frequent 

 cause of failure. Trees supplied from these 

 nurseries at cost price, even, could not be much 

 cheaper than those now obtainable from public 

 nurseries, but their condition when received by 

 the planter should be such as to ensure all 

 reasonable success, whether in the hedgerow, 

 avenue, or shelter belt. The existence of nurse- 

 ries in a district would in itself be suggestive 

 to the average holder, and remove that idea of 

 imaginary difficulties which now surrounds the 

 whole subject of planting in the lay mind, and 

 does much to prevent any attempt being made 

 to inaugurate such work in the smallest way. 



The planting of road-side trees by district 

 councils is another branch of work which would 

 be greatly facilitated by nurseries of this kind. 



