356 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 3, 1883. 
lias fairly advanced they will be much benefited by 
being dewed at least twice daily. 
During their season of growth they require a warm 
moist atmosphere and shade from the strong rays of 
the sun. The material employed for this purpose 
must not exclude light. Ventilate daily during the 
growing season when the weather is favourable. The 
house should be closed early in the afternoon with a 
moist atmosphere. —W. Bardney. 
THE REVIVAL OF ARBORICULTURE. 
From time to time we have referred incidentally to the pro¬ 
ject of Dr. Lyons on re-afforesting in Ireland, and have recorded 
several very generous offers of trees that have been made by 
persons and nursery firms in this country. We are glad to 
learn that sympathy with the important matter in question is 
not confined to Great Britain, and we have been desired by an 
esteemed contributor in France, Mr. E. P. C. Brace, to convey 
to Dr. Lyons an offer of fifty thousand Scotch Pines, to aid 
him in carrying out the work in which he is so laudably en¬ 
gaged. We have had much pleasure in complying with this 
request, and we append a letter from Dr. Lyons accepting Mr. 
Brace’s friendly and much-valued gift. 
“ House of Commons, April 27th, 1883. 
“Dear Sir, —I am extremely obliged for your letter conveying 
that of Mr. Brace of Loir-et-Cher with offer of fifty thousand trees 
towards my project of re-afforesting in Ireland, which has had 
such remarkable support from Scottish and English houses of great 
eminence in arboriculture. I am glad to find that my humble labours, 
which have found such noble response in these countries, finds appre¬ 
ciation in France, where forestry has attained such important develop¬ 
ment, and is a source of profit of some millions sterling per annum to 
the national exchequer. The circumstances of Ireland admit of her 
taking a large and profitable share in the future timber supply of the 
empire. Indeed, I am rejoiced to find that attention is being called 
to the subject in England too, and by so eminent and practical an 
authority as Sir John Lubbock. It may interest your readers to see 
the terms of Sir John Lubbock’s motion on forestry in England, and 
then of my own resolutions in regard to Ireland. 
“ I enclose extracts from the Order Books of the House. I may 
add that on this day I drew a place in the ballot for 25th of May to 
place my motion before the House. In your correspondence with 
Mr. Brace will you kindly thank him in my name for his most muni¬ 
ficent gift ? I will have the honour of communicating with him direct 
myself as to the details of carriage to which be refers. I would be 
obliged if you could make room for this letter in your next, with the 
resolutions of Sir J. Lubbock and my own. 
“ Very faithfully yours, R. D. Lyons.” 
The following are the terms of Dr. Lyons’ motion :— 
41. Dr. Lyons,—Resources of Ireland.—That, in the opinion of this 
House it is desirable, in view of the state of Ireland, that measures 
be taken to utilise her abundant, but dormant, natural resources, by— 
1st. Re-afforesting suitable tracts of her waste lands, and planting 
the great watersheds, in order to supply shelter and timber, and to 
control mountain floods, which are progressively denuding the soil, 
silting up primary and arterial drainage, with consequent deteriora¬ 
tion of tillage and pasture lands, shoaling of navigable rivers, and 
banishment of fish further and further seaward, and by general 
reclamation of waste lands ; 
2nd. By fully developing the seacoast and inland fisheries, with all 
requisite improvements in engines of capture, and piers and har¬ 
bours of refuge, in order to the better food supply of the people, and 
the extension of the commerce in fish ; 
3rd. By the extension of lines of internal communication by water 
and land, by steam or horse power, and the construction of new 
routes for traffic, where necessary, by the development of the fuel 
resources of Ireland, and the extension of industries in mines, mine¬ 
rals, and agriculture : 
That, in tlm opinion of this House, means may be safely devised 
for the utilisation of part of the capital of thirty-two millions ster¬ 
ling, now lying comparatively idle in Ireland, for the development of 
her resources, by the issue of stock notes under the guarantee of the 
Irish or Imperial Revenues, and under the management of a Depart¬ 
ment of Productive Works, having the full confidence of the country. 
There can be no question as to the extreme desirability of 
turning to account suitable waste lands in Ireland in the 
manner and for the purposes indicated ; nor is there the re¬ 
motest doubt that the work carried out with skill and judgment 
—choosing trees that are naturally adapted for the different 
soils and situations, this being a matter of vital importance— 
that eventually great and permanent benefit would result to 
the country. Even in America, that great land of timber, the 
State authorities find it incumbent to give all the encourage¬ 
ment possible to the planting of trees, the disafforestation in 
many districts having had other unfavourable results, such as 
those embodied in the above motion, than a local scarcity of 
timber. On the European continent, too, waste lands are 
utilised in a far more systematic manner than in this country 
by planting trees. In Belgium we recently observed that the 
sides of every road and watercourse were fringed with trees of 
the Canadian Poplar, which thus occupy land that could not 
otherwise be turned to profitable account, and these trees, 
besides affording shelter and draining the land, are estimated 
to increase in value at the rate of Is. each per annum, ex¬ 
perience having proved that in thirty years each tree is worth 
30s. In swampy ground trees at 8 feet to 10 feet apart grow 
luxuriantly, and in the period named an acre of them would 
realise at the least £800, and the ground then by the accumula¬ 
tion of vegetable matter would certainly be in better condition 
than before the trees were planted. There are without doubt 
thousands of acres of land in Ireland now practically value¬ 
less that nv’ght be similarly improved, while adjacent lands not 
thus occupied would be rendered more valuable for other 
cultivable purposes. We trust Dr. Lyons’ motion will be 
favourably entertained, and that he will receive the support 
that is requisite to enable him to succeed in the important 
work in which he is so assiduously engaged. 
The motion of Sir John Lubbock is of wider scope and 
more general purport, as follows :— 
Sir John Lubbock,—To call attention to the state of forestry in 
this country ; and to move for a Committee to consider whether, by 
the establishment of a Forest School or otherwise, our woodlands 
could be rendered more remunerative. 
This will be brought before Ihe House to-morrow (Friday, 
the 4th inst.) if the regular order of business is not further 
interfered with, and whether the Committee be granted or not, 
and we are decidedly of opinion it should be, the discussion 
will direct attention to a matter that has been allowed to 
slumber too long. It is little less than deplorable to witness 
the miles of woods that are practically valueless from a com¬ 
mercial point of view, whereas under skilled supervision they 
might serve all their present purposes, and in addition yield a 
substantial revenue to the owners, also, and necessarily, be of 
advantage to the trading and agricultural community. We have 
the incontrovertible evidence of facts in support of this state¬ 
ment. In many country districts timber has become so scarce, 
and consequently dear, owing to non-planting and the hap¬ 
hazard way in which woods are managed, that the carpenters’ 
bills have become a serious item to farmers, and tradesmen 
have informed us of the great difficulty they experience in 
procuring suitable materials. There is no excuse for this, be¬ 
cause woods judiciously managed are fairly remunerative. We 
are intimately acquainted with land that for years did not 
realise a rental of a shilling per acre, that is now covered with 
thriving plantations that are of substantial value to the owner. 
On an estate in a rich agricultural district some portions of 
woodland that were planted with Larch thirty years ago have, 
we have been informed by the hteward of the estate, yielded 
a return fully equal to the best agricultural land in the locality, 
and we have ourselves planted Larch on waste land that in 
twelve years produced poles of the value of a shilling each. 
When we consider the number of trees that can be grown on 
an acre, and the trivial expense requisite in tending them, we 
are impressed with the impolicy of allowing waste land to 
remain barren when so much of it is capable, by a small outlay, 
of being made satisfactorily productive. 
The neglect of systematic arboriculture is a grave mistake. 
Sir John Lubbock is not directing attention to the subject a 
moment too soon, and it will be to the public advantage if 
means are devised to render the woodlands of this country 
remunerative. Whether “Forest Schools ” are requisite for 
accomplishing this desideratum is a question open to dis¬ 
cussion ; but the circumstance must not be overlooked that 
our best nurseries where forest trees are raised on an extensive 
scale, and many well-managed estates of the nobility and 
