1904-1905.] 339 



mosses, as witness the stumps of pines in our bogs. They 

 could grow again. Instances were mentioned of wonderful 

 growth of trees in deep peat mosses — e.g.^ an alder 95 feet 

 high at Church Hill, in County Armagh; larch in Welsh peat 

 bogs, &c. The? conditions of successful plantations on bogs 

 were delicate, apparently depending on moderate drainage. 

 That trees could grow and forests be created in Ireland on 

 the waste lands was a fact. The real difficulty lay in obtain- 

 *ing possession of the land in large enough blocks and in care- 

 ful study of the conditions essential to success. The lecturer 

 explained the action of the Belgian Government in the 

 matter, and he advocated some system analogous to that of 

 the communal ownership of forests on the Continent. The 

 remarkable prosperity of forest regions from the rise of many 

 subsidiary industries was then dealt with. The lecturer con- 

 cluded by showing a series of slides illustrative of growth of 

 trees at different altitudes and on different soils, from which 

 it appeared that each species had its own peculiar idiosyn- 

 crasy. The lecturer referred to the benefits which would 

 accrue by planting trees in the waste places of a country 

 such as Ireland. Timber would undoubtedly increase in 

 value, and not only so, but industries would spring up which 

 would tend to the prosperity and welfare of the country. He 

 also referred to certain points on which information was want- 

 ing in our knowledge of trees in this country — as, e.g., the 

 distribution of the two species of oak, the peculiarities of the 

 two kinds of birch, the investigation of the ancient forests in 

 the peat bogs, &c. The members of the Field Club could be 

 of great service in obtaining such information. The lecture 

 was illustrated by lime-light views from photos taken by the 

 lecturer. 



In speaking to the paper, Mr. R. Welch, M.R.I.A., 

 pointed out how the remnants of the old forest growth in 

 Ireland, in waste ground on rough glen sides, and on the 

 islands in the greater lakes, such as Lough Erne, Lough 

 Derg, &c., had formed sanctuaries for much of the old fauna 

 of the country. Many rare land-shells were found in them, 



