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92 T.CLEAR High prices for agricultural produce during the French wars 1792- 1815 and the rapid increase in rural population pushed cultivation to extremes not hitherto assayed. While there was a marked drop in further reclaimation after 1845 there was still an active inclination to reclaim and the techniques were well understood right up to the First World War. The art of reclaimation seemed to have been largely lost as a result of the decline in agriculture that set-in in the early twenties. Land division policies and the break-up of the large estates relieved congestion and in the '30's much reclaimed mountain reverted to heather, bracken and rushes. POOR PERFORMANCE OF SCOTS PINE IN UPLANDS The cessation of reclamation and the abandonment of mountain land during the recession of the '20's and the farming collapse of the 30's, gave forestry a golden opportunity to acquire large tracts of potentially productve forest land without any objection from agriculture. These lands on offer were often too steep and rough to plough with the tackle then available and the only preparation possible was spot screefing to remove the heather or coarse grass and direct pitting or notching. Scots pine was generally considered the best available selection. It was widely accepted that proper reclaimation for agriculture would involve deep cultivation and the mixing of upper soil horizons together with top dressing of dung or road scrapings. This could be a tedious and costly operation even on the easiest of sites and the forester hoped that the trees themselves would, in time, ameliorate these difficult conditions. While there was fair success on areas that had been reclaimed and reasonably maintained, on ground where profiles had been undisturbed results, particularly with Scots pine, were poor. Many still remember sizeable areas of crippled Scots pine choked with furze and heather which disfigured many an upland forest and dismayed forestry propagandists. In this context I remember Forbes recalling his chagrin and disbelief at the poor showing of Scots pine in Ballyhoura, an area that he himself had reported as being very favourable for Scots pine at the time of acquisition. I remember also how he constantly drew attention to the occasional Lodgepole pine that showed much better promise. THE ADVENT OF THE PLOUGH I believe the great significance of that period up to the advent of the plough and the acceptance of 10,000 ha as proposed by Sean McBride as an annual afforestation target that came in as part of the first post War recovery programme, and underwritten by the Cameron Report was to focus strong Government attention on the new techniques that were being introduced around 1950 in Great Britain (Fig. 3).
FORESTRY - A PERSONAL VIEW 93 Fig. 3 - Roy Cameron (left) F.A.O. forestry expert visited Ireland in 1951. Pictured with him are (left to right) Professor M. Tierney. President U.C.O., T. Clear and Sean McBride. (Photograph: Independent Newspapers) Many still remember the heartening report Mr. McEvoy and Mr. Meldrum brought home from Britain about the work of the giant ploughs then coming into use. Foresters flocked to join a study tour to Wales to see ploughs in action. What has happened since is history and is so well recorded as to be commonplace. What may not be appreciated by many non-foresters is that large areas are now carrying valuable stands of Sitka spruce and Lodgepole pine on sites previously deemed to have very limited suitability for forestry. The irony of the situation is that the same soil types which had zero suitability for agriculture and would have been happily assigned to afforestation are now as a result of techniques largely pioneered by forestry being strongly recommended for rec1aimation by our agricultural colleagues. This turnabout is a measure of the great
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Page 8 and 9: TREE PROBLEMS • SOUTHERN TREE SUR
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Page 12 and 13: GRANTS fOR PRIVATI fORISTRY MAKE YO
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Page 18 and 19: ROUNDUP Enabling forests to grow fr
Page 20 and 21: 80 Notes for the Assistance of Cont
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Page 26 and 27: 86 T.CLEAR Ireland - vast areas of
Page 28 and 29: 88 T. CLEAR many years. One could o
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Page 40 and 41: 100 FRANK 1. CONVERY RESULTS OF THE
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Page 48 and 49: 108 JOHN GILLILAND of another war.
Page 50 and 51: 110 JOHN GILLILAND final saw log cr
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Page 54 and 55: 114 E. CHARLES NELSON of the cones
Page 56 and 57: 116 E. CHARLES NELSON Bobrov (1972)
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Page 60 and 61: 120 NOTES AND NEWS Augustine Henry
Page 62 and 63: 122 NOTES AND NEWS Forestry Meeting
Page 64 and 65: 124 OBITUARY William John Bryan It
Page 66 and 67: 126 BOOK REVIEWS OTHER PuBLICATIONS
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Page 76 and 77: 136 SOCIETY ACTIVITIES 38th ANNUAL
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146 SOCIETY ACTIVITIES STUDY TOUR P
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