THE IRISH FORESTRY SOCIETY. 329 
any country, and certainly no part of the United Kingdom, 
needed so much as Ireland did the operation of this question. 
There was a good deal of wood in many parts of England, not 
so much large plantations, but the country generally was better 
wooded. Some forty years ago there began to be a tendency to 
cut down hedgerows, which they thought were injurious to the 
crops, but they had found that the absence of these hedgerows 
had caused a diminution of birds and a consequent increase 
in grubs and malignant insects, and so the cutting had been 
largely stopped. Since the eighteenth century there had been a 
great deal of planting in Scotland, though a great many parts of 
the Highlands were still sparsely wooded. He was much struck 
of late in travelling through Ireland to notice the barrenness of 
many parts of the country. Before the Anglo-Norman invasion 
Ireland was a very highly wooded country, and her barrenness 
in the matter of woods at present was a strong reason why 
something should be done to improve the state of affairs in that 
respect. He was inclined to believe that the price of wood 
would increase, as the demand was not likely to diminish, 
and the supplies in Canada and America had been greatly 
reduced. While agreeing with the deputation on the general 
question, they should all feel that consideration must be paid to 
the practical question. There was still much difference of 
opinion on the question of making forestry work remunerative. 
Then the question of whether the conditions which existed in 
France and Germany existed here was one that had to be 
considered. He thought they wanted rather more positive 
and definite scientific information than they yet possessed as to 
the possibilities of timber-growing in Ireland before they could 
expect the Government to enter upon any large policy. He had 
been considering since he came to Ireland, whether there was 
a necessity for having a small committee of specialists to 
examine the question further, and make a statement as to 
the commercial side of the matter. He would be glad 
to receive any hints later on from the members of the 
deputation on this question. There should then, he thought, 
be a more systematic examination than hitherto, as to the 
spots and soils in Ireland where planting would be most re- 
munerative. It was a melancholy thing that the small tenants 
should be cutting down trees for the sake of the very small 
gain at present derived, when these trees would, very probably, 
