1908.] Committee on Forestry in Ireland. 



129 



special funds provided in the event of the proposed scheme 

 being sanctioned. 



It is suggested that the scheme should provide for the 

 acquisition by the Forestry Authority of 200,000 acres of 

 plantable land, in large blocks, to be planted, managed, and 

 maintained in the interests of the country as a whole, as State 

 forest ; and that the Forestry Authority should also acquire 

 and manage the larger woods passing from the hands of their 

 present owners under the Land Purchase Acts. The smaller 

 woods which are passing from their present owners could be 

 more economically managed by the County Councils, and such 

 woods, other than those small enough to be allotted with 

 tenant-purchasers' holdings, might be acquired by the County 

 Councils and managed by them, in the interests of their 

 respective counties, subject to the expert advice and super- 

 vision of the Forestry Authority. Advances under the Land 

 Acts could be made to the County Councils, as trustees, to 

 enable them to acquire such woods and small lots of plantable 

 land in connection with them. 



It is also proposed that increased encouragement should be 

 given to private owners to plant portions of their holdings. 

 In the case of the smaller holders, such encouragement might 

 take the form of an extension of the county horticultural 

 schemes under the County Councils and the Department of 

 Agriculture ; and, in the case of the larger holders, of an 

 extension of the system of Board of Works' loans. 



Effective provision for the training of working foresters and 

 woodmen has already been made at the Forestry Station at 

 Avondale under the Department of Agriculture, and partial 

 provision for higher training at the Royal College of Science, 

 Dublin ; but the extension of this provision is regarded as 

 desirable. 



Another point contemplated in the Report is the proper 

 organisation of the timber trade in the interests of the grower 

 and the manufacturer, and the further development of forest 

 industries. 



The net expenses of the national scheme of afforestation 

 recommended, including the purchase of the land required, are 

 -estimated to amount to £44,525 per annum in the first decade, to 

 £66,725 in the second decade, to £74,600 in the third, to £67,100 

 (3499) I 



