108 FOEESTS, WOODS, AND TKEES 



Ireland, extensive hill plantations and shelter belts might 

 be made on the co-operative system if State aid in the shape 

 of loans for planting were available. 



The recognition of the hill-pasture zone is easy if it is 

 understood to include all the ground above the enclosed farm 

 laud and below the heather moorland. Its altitude is 

 variable, ranging, for example, in the Dublin Mountains 

 between 900 and 1250 feet and in the Northern Pennines 

 between 1000 and 1250 feet. It is also very variable in 

 composition, including woodland, scrub, grassland, brakes of 

 bracken fern, and thickets of small whin {Ulex gallii) on 

 siliceous soils. In the Pennines the natural wood is mainly 

 oak or birch, the former small and scrubby above 1000 feet, 

 the latter ascending to 1250 feet. The grassland consists 

 mainly of mat-grass {Nardus stricta) and silver hair grass 

 {Deschampsia Jlexuosa) on the drier soils, with sheep's fescue 

 {Festuca ovina) at the lower levels, while the wetter ground 

 is dominated by purple moor -grass {Molinia caerulea). 

 Bracken occurs over large areas in places, and its present 

 upper altitude line corresponds very closely with the limit 

 reached by the pre-existing forest. In fact, wherever 

 bracken and small whin are present they are a sure sign 

 that plantations may be tried with confidence. Dr. W. G. 

 Smith says : " Bracken is an indication of a soil at least 

 six or nine inches deep, moist yet well drained, and not peat, 

 because only in these conditions can the underground stems 

 of this fern survive ; the conditions are therefore suitable 

 for afforestation." The small whin occurs only in patches 

 in the Pennines, but is very abundant on the Malvern Hills 

 and the Dublin Mountains. On limestone soils the zone of 

 hill pasture has a different composition, the characteristic 

 woods being ash, birch, and wych elm, while the grassland 

 is a short grassy turf, largely composed of roots of sheep's 

 fescue. The characteristic grasses of non-limestone soil, 

 Nardus, Deschampsia, and Molinia, are totally absent. 

 Bracken, whin, and rushes, so common on siliceous soils, 

 are of very rare occurrence, and perhaps are confined to 

 leached soils or soils mixed with non-calcareous material. 



