66 FORESTEY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



annually required for the Navy. Arrangements were made for 

 planting 100,000 acres, and by 1823 over 50,000 acres had actually 

 been planted, chiefly on Crown lands. Later on it was found that 

 oak was no longer required for the Navy, but the Crown forests 

 were maintained, and, during the last 20 years, even sUghtly 

 increased. On the whole, however, there has been a slow but 

 steady decrease in the area under wood. In Scotland large 

 plantations of conifers were made between 1780 and 1830, 

 especially of larch, many of which were felled in the latter part of 

 the nineteenth century and not replanted. Until a quite recent 

 date the wooded area of Ireland has steadily decreased. 



The subjoined table shows the distribution of the land and the 

 areas of forest in square miles at the outbreak of the war : — 



During the war 470 square miles were cleared, but endeavours 

 will be made to restock the cleared areas. 



3. Ownership of the Forests. 

 The details of ownership of the forests are shown below, the 

 areas being given in square miles : — 



The State forests are really Crown forests, but each Sovereign, 

 on accession, hands them over to the State together with other 

 Crown estates in return for the grant of the Civil List. 



