260 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



5 per cent. on. any advance made for the purpose of planting. I 

 should, therefore, urge upon the Government the question whether 

 advances for planting could not be made on the following condi- 

 tions : — 



(1) That the amount advanced shall be sufficient (and no 

 more) to meet the cost of draining, fencing, and planting. 



(2) That the proprietor shall pay 2| per cent, (the rate at 

 which Government can borrow money) annually on such advance, 

 until the plantations commence to yield a return ; commencing 

 from that moment the annual payment to be raised sufficiently to 

 repay capital and interest within a limited period of time. 

 Example,: — In the case of a larch or Scotch pine plantation, 2\ 

 per cent, might be paid during the first twenty -five years ; after 

 that, from 7 to 10 per cent, until the capital and interest are 

 paid off. 



(3) Government to have a lien on the plantation until the 

 advance is paid back, and consequently a certain control over the 

 management. 



If Government were willing to consider any such plan, the 

 details of the scheme could easily be worked out. 



Meanwhile the State might set an example by acquiring suit- 

 able lands, either by purchase or on lease, and putting them 

 under forest. For this purpose I should propose Oughterard as 

 the centre of operations. In that vicinity I have seen various 

 blocks of waste land fit for planting, and an effort might be 

 made to secure a certain area, say 5000 acres to begin with. 

 The land need not be in one block; on the contrary, it should be 

 composed of a number of blocks to be taken up where suitable 

 land is available. It would, however, be advisable not to go 

 below a certain minimum of size for each block, say about 500 

 acres. 



Of the land so secured, a certain proportion would, in all 

 probability, consist of deep bog. In planting, this should for the 

 present be passed over if more than 3 feet deep and if occurring 

 in large patches. Small patches, up to i or even 5 feet deep, 

 might be planted. 



The draining of the land should be clone in strips 30 feet 

 broad, and the soil taken out of the ditches should be uniformly 

 spread over the intermediate strips, especially if the soil so taken 

 out consists partly of mineral substances. Draining need not, at 

 the outset, be done deeper than 2 feet, and the ditches should be 



