1170 



Canadian Forestry Journal, June, 1917 



the supply having caught up to the 

 demand. 



The chief attention at this, the 

 leading forest station in Ireland, is 

 now centered on conducting experi- 

 ments in the planting of species pre- 

 sumably adapted to Irish conditions. 

 An Arboretum has been established 

 and over 100 acres of sample plots 

 of various species planted. The aver- 

 age cost of planting with two-year-old 

 plants at the rate of 3,000 per acre 

 has been about $34.20 per acre. 



Many North American species have 

 been tried and the results given dur- 

 ing the first five years by the North 

 American species, as compared with 

 European and other species, are in- 

 teresting. The plantations are on a 

 light loamy soil. The rainfall aver- 

 ages 40 inches per annum. While 

 the winter temperature does not go 

 below 10 to 20 degrees F., there are 

 frequent frosts in May and June 

 which seriously affect many species. 

 The climate is typical of that of the 

 greater part of Ireland. The eleva- 

 tion varies from 200 to 450 feet. The 

 plantations are in nearly all cases 

 evenly mixed with nurse trees of 

 European larch, and are spaced about 

 4 by 4 feet, the plots varying in size 

 from one to three acres. North Am- 

 erican species are evidently better 

 adapted to Irish needs than many of 

 the European species. Those species 

 from the Pacific coast seem especially 

 provided for Irish condtions. Nine 

 of the eighteen conifers showing the 

 best results up to date are North 

 American and of these, eight are 

 from the Pacific coast. 



Effects of Land Policy 



A Land Act passed in 1903 had 

 resulted in the purchase of estates 

 by the government in order that the 

 agricultural lands comprised within 

 the estate might be distributed 

 amongst the tenants in pursuance of 

 the policy of breaking up the large 

 estates. There frequently remained 

 wooded areas for which no disposition 

 was possible to the Government Es- 

 tate Commissioners except the sale 

 and clearing off of the timber. Under 

 this policy the area of forest land was 

 actually being decreased through 



Government action. According, in 

 1908, an annual grant of $28,000 was 

 made for the acquisition and manage- 

 ment of such tracts. The Depart- 

 ment had up to 1914 acquired ten 

 timbered areas varying in size from 

 240 to 1900 acres andlotaling 7,000 

 acres. These are under permanent 

 management by the Department as 

 demonstration areas and as local 

 sources of timber. About 800 acres 

 have been planted in these woodlots. 

 A Departmental Committee on 

 Forestry in Ireland, of which the 

 Chief Inspector of Forestry was a 

 member, recommended that an area 

 of 200,000 acres of mountain land 

 should be purchased and planted for 

 forest purposes. It was estimated 

 that of the 2,000,000 acres of moun- 

 tain land in the country this much at 

 least might safely and profitably be 

 used for timber production and that 

 argument about the total area avail- 

 able might reasonably be left until 

 action had been taken on 200,000 

 acres as a start. Obstacles are num- 

 erous in the way of public purchase 

 of land in the British Isles. A strong 

 fear of the nationalization of land 

 exists in certain quarters. The titles 

 and usages existing over the land are 

 frequently complicated, making it 

 difficult to secure the land required 

 from the various parties interested 

 at a reasonable valuation. The agri- 

 cultural habits of each community 

 have become so settled that the re- 

 moval of a few hundred or a few thou- 

 sand acres from the grazing resources 

 of a valley inevitably involves diffi- 

 cult readjustment. The Irish Forest 

 Department alone has overcome these 

 difTiculties in any measure by actually 

 purchasing land for planting. An 

 advance of $120,000 was made in 

 1910 by the Development Fund for 

 acquisition and replanting of moun- 

 tain land. Up to 1914, 7,000 acres, 

 in three blocks, had been purchased, 

 and further purchases were under 

 consideration. The cost varied from 

 $9.60 to $14.40 per acre. Planting 

 is now started in these areas. The 

 aim of management of these areas is 

 to increase the block of public forest 

 in each centre of an economical size 

 for management of 2,000 to 5,000 



