Planting a most profitable Investment. 197 



each acre will be worth at least four hundred 

 pounds, while the thinnings of the plantations, 

 after thirty years' growth, will produce ten shil- 

 lings an acre. 



Planting, as an investment for capital, exceeds 

 all other speculations in its profitable and cer- 

 tain return ; as it is a sinking fund of fifteen per 

 cent, from thirty to sixty years' growth of the 

 trees. No country exhibits greater temptations 

 for indulging in this beneficial and ornamental 

 application of such parts of the surface, as 

 would best be employed in this valuable prac- 

 tice, than Ireland ; where wood thrives in all 

 situations where water carriage, at least for 

 rafts, would easily be obtained, and where 

 every twig, in some way or other, would add a 

 comfort to the cottier's cabin. Thousands of 

 acres, now waste and unprofitable, might at an 

 easy expense be rendered more productive than 

 land of the same average quality in England. 

 Fencing is the principal expense. The plants, 

 and the labor of planting them in Ireland, may 

 by contract be obtained for three pounds, and I 

 should calculate the fencing at about two 

 pounds per acre. Admitting the fee simple of 

 the ground to be worth ten pounds, these, to- 

 gether with compound interest in sixty years, 

 would amount to one hundred and sixty pounds. 



