State Aid to Agriculture in Ireland. SS 



Besides the work just considered, the Department carry out 

 a certain number of enterprises in which the business of 

 supervision is done directly by them, and not, as in the county 

 schemes, conjointly. Forestry presents a large problem in 

 Ireland and can only be dealt with, at present, through the 

 Department to a limited degree. The forestry schemes include 

 the purchase of trees at wholesale rates for distribution through 

 the County Committees, the instruction of the agricultural and 

 horticultural instructors through courses of lectures, and the 

 issue of leaflets. The most important part of the Department's 

 forestry work, however, is the forestry station at Avondale, 

 which estate has been purchased for the purpose of carrying 

 out demonstration plots and giving courses of instruction to 

 resident pupils, who thus qualify in the subject. The Depart- 

 ment also undertake the survey of woods. 



Still another of their direct schemes is the field experiments, 

 where the manuring of crops is studied and the results 

 tabulated for the information of farmers. A good deal of 

 profitable work has also been done in regard to the growing 

 of early potatoes for market and the boxing of the ordinary 

 species of potatoes, so that they may be ready for market earlier 

 than the crop treated in the usual way. These have been 

 found verj^ valuable and lucrative schemes. 



Fruit-growing is dealt with chiefly through the horticultural 

 instructor. The Department has also organised fruit shows, 

 which have lieen of considerable value. They have studied 

 the standardising of packages for the grading of fruit, and these 

 have been used with considerable advantage to the growers. 

 Fruit and vegetable drying and preserving, the making of jam, 

 and the revival of cider making in Co. Tipperary are other 

 branches of industry allied to fruit-growing which have 

 engaged the attention of the Department. 



The Department has also a branch whose lousiness is 

 devoted to the collection of statistics and the dissemination of 

 useful information — the Statistics and Intelligence Branch. 

 The work of this branch, though more strictly relating to 

 economics than to agriculture, is indirectly of the greatest use 

 to the farming community. It is divided into four main 

 heads: (1) the collection and publication of agricultural and 

 other statistics relating to Ireland ; (2) the collection of infor- 

 mation })oth at home and abroad on questions submitted to the 

 Department and affecting its work ; (3) the editing of the 

 Department's Quarterly Journal and the i)res8 editing of other 

 publications issued by the Department ; and lastly, the distri- 

 l)ution and despatch of reports, leaflets, and other publications. 

 The agricultural statistics which deal with the numl)er and size 

 of the aKricnltiiral lioldiiiL-s and their distribution, the area and 



