I am very glad to see that it is proposed to have an increase in this grant. I am a great believer in tree-planting. It must be evident to anybody who knows anything about this matter that since the year 1885, the country is becoming more and more denuded of trees. Since the Land Acts began to work, unfortunately, the owners, instead of planting trees, have been cutting them down to a very great extent. That is generally true over the whole country and I hope it will not go on. There is great room for tree-planting over vast areas of the country on ground that would not be useful for any other purpose. County Kildare has been foremost always in the matter of forestry. Since about 1900 the Kildare County Council, of which I was then a member, has been buying woods continuously and planting them, or getting a present of them sometimes, and the Council has now extensive woods in different parts of the county. By now they must be beginning to be profitable, because after about twelve years, through the thinning of woods, there ought to be a certain amount of return. The result is becoming evident in parts of Kildare. Kildare is not a beautiful county. It has not the advantages of Wicklow, with its mountains and so on, but the woods in Kildare have been taken care of to a great extent by their owners. The much-abused ancestors have at least done that much good. They were great tree-planters in years gone by, and, in a good many cases, the result has been of great benefit to the county and to the people.
Some time ago there was a great shortage of timber throughout the world. Great fires in Canada destroyed millions of acres of woods, and had we been ready to meet the demand without denuding the country of trees, we should have made a large amount of money. As it was, there was a great deal of timber sold here, but generally it was timber that should not have been taken away and was not replaced. I hope that some of the money that the Land Commission is providing for improving estates can be used for replacing shelter belts that have been cut down on lands taken over. Apart from the shelter that they afford, trees have a great effect on the drainage of lands. Where a county is well wooded, as a rule, flooding is not so prevalent. That has been proved in France where, owing to the denuding of the forests, they have been troubled very much by the flooding of the Seine, and that has been put down to the want of timber in the upper reaches of the river.
There is a great deal in having good timber throughout the country both from the point of view of beauty and of profit. Tree planting would give a great deal of employment. It would be profitable, not like making roads, which is like pouring water through a sieve, as there is no return for the money. There is a profit from the timber at the end of a certain time, with very little expense in the meantime, except possibly for a caretaker and the careful thinning that is required. Sir Walter Scott made a very true remark about timber. He said that while men sleep, trees grow. There is a good deal in that. If it were only from the point of view of the useful employment it would give, I think the money would be well spent in planting the country. The country will be beautified, particularly by planting the lower parts of some of the hills. I am glad to see the increase in the grant this year, and I hope that there will be a further increase next year, and that we shall see the result of it in the extra employment given and the increased beauty of the country.