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PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. [March 1897. 



Potatoes gave a yield slightly above the average upon a some- 

 what smaller acreage ; the produce was, however, much below 

 the high figure of 1895. Turnips yielded 1*2 tons per acre more 

 than in 1895, when the produce was 1 ton per acre above the 

 mean of the ten years 1886-95. Mangel-wurzel and beetroot — 

 rather more than a normal crop — fell off from the high figures 

 of 1895. The yield of hay was about an average, 



A much smaller area under flax only yielded a crop some 

 2 stones per acre above the poor return of 1895, and more than 

 5 stones below the average. 



The " Champion " still continues to form by far the largest 

 proportion of the Irish potato crop, but the quantity, as com- 

 pared with other kinds, appears to show a slight tendency to 

 decrease, which seemed to set in after 1893. This variety in 

 1896 formed 75 per cent, of the total crop, against an average 

 during the ten years 1884-93 of 79 3 per cent. The " Champion " 

 is stated to have been first introduced in quantity into Ireland 

 after the failure of the potato crop in 1879. 



Agricultural Statistics, Ireland —General Abstract of Forestry 

 Operations in Ireland, during the Tear ended 30th June 

 1896. 



This publication shows that the area under Woods and 

 Plantations in Ireland in 1896 was 307,407 acres. Com- 

 paring 1 896 with 1851 there has been an increase of about 

 0*8 per cent., the extent in 1851 having been 304,906 statute 

 acres. 



It appears that 1,070 statute acres were planted with trees in 

 Ireland during the year ended 30th June last, and the total 

 number of trees planted on these 1,070 acres was 2,852,083. 

 The number and description of the trees planted is as follows : 

 —Larch, 498,762; fir, 294,233: spruce, 133 918; pine, 59,590; 

 oak, 20,885 ; ash, 13,900 ; beech, 18,550 ; sycamore, 21,065 ; elm, 

 16,050; other trees, 48,471; and mixed trees, the number of 

 each kind being unspecified, 1,726,659. 



The number of trees felled both for clearance and for thinning 

 plantations during the year amounted to 548,839, viz., 135,526 

 in Leinster, 315,511 in Munster, 58,208 in Ulster, and 39,594 in 

 Connaught. Tipperary, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick are the 

 counties in which operations of this nature were most extensive, 

 and in these counties the number ranged from 46,358 in Limerick 

 to 87,930 in Tipperary. The area returned as cleared is 1,126 

 acres, viz., 210 in Leinster, 679 in Munster, 138 in Ulster, and 

 99 in Connaught. 



Of the 548,839 trees felled, 108,702 were used for " propping," 

 which appears to have been the chief purpose to which the 

 timber of almost all descriptions was applied. As regards the 

 disposal of 90,035 of the trees felled, the only information 



