AFFORESTING WASTE LANDS. 



me, the plantation, as a shelter to both man and 

 beast was simply a God-send. The ground in this 

 case is of the usual kind found on our mountain sides, 

 with patches of broom and furze and rough-growing 

 grasses, and would apply generally to that under con- 

 sideration. But in many parts of Scotland, particularly 

 Perth, Inverness and Aberdeenshire, equally good results 

 have been obtained by judicious tree planting. Regarding 

 peat bog I might mention that in 1862 my father formed 

 several plantations on such in the County Armagh, Ireland. 

 (A full description of which will be found in " The 

 Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of 

 Scotland," for 1873, and need not be repeated here.) 



On examining these plantations in 1900, I was agreeably 

 surprised at the height to which the trees had attained, 

 the amount of timber they contained, and price at that 

 time realised. In passing, it might be noticed that the 

 ground previous to planting was of little value, except for 

 snipe-shooting and the production of turf for fuel. The 

 trees used were the larch, Scotch, spruce and Douglas 

 firs, with a few hard- wooded species. On the same 

 estate, on a tract of peat bog, from which fuel had also 

 been cut, the larch, with clean shafts 80 to 90 feet in 

 height, and containing about 60 feet of timber, were used 

 as piles for the iron bridge which spans the Blackwater 

 about three miles from Lough Neagh. But on many other 

 estates, such as the Earl of Ranfurly's and the Earl of 

 Charlemont's, good results may be seen of the planting of 

 larch on peat bog. Now, it is well known that in an 

 economic sense the larch is by far the most valuable 

 coniferous tree grown in this country, though, unfortunately, 

 throughout England and Scotland it suffers severely from 

 the Peziza a cankerous growth that spreads with terrible 

 rapidity, and renders the timber of trees so affected 

 practically useless for the more important purposes to which 

 it is to be applied. But not so in Ireland, for after a careful 

 examination of many plantations and perusal of reports sent 

 me from timber merchants throughout the country, it is quite 

 evident that on peaty soil the larch is almost free from 

 the dread scourj^^reierred to. Here, then, we have one of 



