Domestic Notices : — Ireland. 345 



" The advantages which this Society anticipates, from a greater attention 

 to the increase and superior management of wooded lands, are, the im- 

 provement of wastes ; the employment of a large number of the peasantry ; 

 the addition of ornament to the country, as well as of value to farmed 

 lands, by the production of shelter and an abundance of useful timber ; and 

 the consequent increase of individual property and national wealth. That 

 these advantages are not generally understood, the face of the country 

 sufficiently demonstrates ; and where so large a proportion of labour and 

 expense is devoted to agriculture, and so little to the cultivation of forest 

 trees, it is not wonderful that the landed proprietors of Ireland should, to 

 use the words of Evelyn, ' oftener find occasion to fell down and destroy 

 their woods and plantations, than either to repair or improve them.' It is, 

 therefore, highly desirable that the subject should be brought more fre- 

 quently and directly under public notice and discussion, and that inform- 

 ation upon it should be collected from as many sources, and distributed 

 through as many channels, as possible. To do this is the object of the 

 present Society, and the proposed means of effecting that object are, — 



" 1. To establish an office in a public and central situation in Dublin, 

 and to engage a scientific agent to attend there at convenient hours, for the 

 purpose of collecting and communicating to members, and to persons acting 

 on their behalf, all possible information connected with the objects of the 

 Society. 2. To keep in the office patterns of tools and models of machinery, 

 of the best and most approved construction. 3. To open and carry on an 

 extensive correspondence both at home and abroad, from which the Society 

 may expect to derive valuable information ; and perhaps to bring forward 

 the interesting results of its enquiries in occasional publications, so as to 

 diffuse through the country a knowledge of the principles of the science. 

 4. To collect for the use of the Society, and for the promotion of the 

 science, a library of the best publications which have been written upon 

 the subject in various languages. 



" It is not intended that the Society should embark in speculation, offer 

 premiums, recommend woodmen, or in any way engage in conducting the 

 business of individual subscribers, which might involve it in heavy expen- 

 diture and responsibility. The establishment of similar societies has proved 

 conducive to the promotion of almost every other branch of knowledge. 

 If any improvement has been discovered in the treatment of the inferior 

 vegetable productions, it is directly communicated to, and disseminated by, 

 farming and horticultural societies ; new plants are collected from every 

 part of the globe, and the most valuable are selected for cultivation ; ex- 

 periments are tried and recorded, that their success may be followed up, or 

 their failure made known, in order to deter others from wasting time and 

 capital in a repetition of similar attempts ; queries are proposed and answered, 

 and a useful spirit of emulation is thereby excited through the kingdom ; 

 the experience of each individual being thus rendered of use to the com- 

 munity. But with respect to the noblest of vegetables, both as it regards 

 the beauty and riches of the country, the case is widely different. In the 

 cultivation of forest trees, there is no connection between the efforts of 

 individuals; every one tries his own experiments, and is too often dis- 

 couraged by the failure of those attempts, which, had they been assisted by 

 the experience of others, might have produced the most beneficial results. 

 It is, therefore, presumed that the establishing a Society in Ireland for the 

 purposes above stated, will be of essential service to the country, by giving 

 an impulse to improvement in the management of woods and plantations, 

 whilst it will also combine with its other advantages one of vast and para- 

 mount importance, the continued and profitable employment of a large 

 number of the peasantry of the kingdom." 



It is commonly alleged in England that the societies which have hitherto 

 been established in Ireland have done very little good, and that those which 



