ST.\TI.STICAL SUR\ EV OF IRISH AGRICULTURE. 



323 



Forestry. 



being fattened and " finished " in Great Britain. This interesting instance 

 of a territorial divison oi labour, within the sphere of agriculture, between 

 different countries, affords evidence, for one thing, of the fine bone-pro- 

 ducing quahties of the great limestone plains of Ireland. At the same time 

 so great an expansion of the export trade in store cattle as has now taken 

 place involves an exhausting dram on a great natural resource of the country. 

 Only about ij4 per cent, of the total area of Ireland is under woods, 

 while there is over 23 per cent, of uncultivated land 

 in the country. The woods in England are 5.1 per 

 cent, in Scotland 4.5, and in Wales 3.8 per cent, of the 

 total areas. Dr. Schlich, in his Report on the Affores- 

 tation of Ireland, 1885, estimates that about 2,000,000 acres of the total 

 waste land of this country could be made available for plantations. Profes- 

 sor Fisher, of the Royal Indian Engineering College, endorses this view, 

 and adds :— -" Tenants and graziers who would oppose the planting of 

 2,000,000 acres of the waste lands of Ireland, must be extremely short- 

 sighted people ; the greatest of all wants in Ireland is an investment of 

 capital of this kind, an investment which will yield an enormous return in 

 affording labour to the people, and in supplying raw material for industries 

 which cannot prosper without it, as well as timber for export, and for the 

 improvement of farms and dwellings."* There is annually imported into 

 the United Kingdom from Sweden, Norway, Russia, and other countries 

 timber valued at over nine millions sterling, of a kind that could be grown 

 in these islands, that is eliminating such exotic woods as teak, mahogany, 

 and the hard woods of Australia. In view of these considerations, it js 

 unsatisfactory to find that there has been a net decHne of 30,117 acres since 

 1880. 



Inquiries relative to woods and plantations, showing the extent in acres of 

 each class of timber, were made in connection with the Census of 1841. 

 The following is a summary of the acreage under each kind of tree (exclu- 

 sive of detached trees) in that year, distinguishing the periods in which the 

 trees were planted : — 



Since 185 1 (with the exception of the year 1852) the acreage under woods 

 and plantations has been ascertained annually in connection with the Agri- 

 cultural Statistics; but until the year 1891 the total extent was the only 

 information sought for, no particulars as to the kind of trees having been 

 obtained. In that year returns giving the latter information were collected 

 and the results were published in a Table showing by counties the distribu- 

 tion of the various descriptions of trees. 



* See Lecture on Forestry, given before the Royal Dublin Society, March 3, 1899. 



