I move:—
That a sum not exceeding £265,430 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending the 31st day of March, 1949, for Salaries and Expenses in connection with Forestry (No. 13 of 1946), including a Grant-in-Aid for Acquisition of Land.
For some years past my predecessor had to report that the extent of the tree planting programme was diminishing and that nothing could be done to alter the position. After the cessation of the war it was hoped that an immediate improvement could be made, but until quite recently it was found impossible to secure from any source adequate supplies of rabbit netting. I can, however, now announce that this obstacle has been overcome. There is every prospect of a substantial increase in next winter's planting programme and for a continued expansion thereafter. In anticipation of this, steps were taken to increase the stocks of plants in the State nurseries but some further time must elapse before the full 10,000-acre programme per annum can be realised.
The present season's planting is still in progress and it is anticipated that not less than 4,000 acres will be planted during the season. The stocks of transplants in the State nurseries have been supplemented by purchases from commercial nurseries. For the season 1948-49 we are making provision for a minimum planting of 6,000 acres, and this also will be exceeded if the plant situation will allow of it.
The State nurseries at the beginning of the war were stocked with enough transplants to provide for a planting programme of 10,000 acres but the stocks gradually diminished through the impossibility of procuring the necessary seed for replacements. The situation is now improving and stocks in 1946-47 showed an increase of 10,750,000 as compared with the previous year. During the past winter orders have been placed for 1,915 lbs. of seed of various species (mainly Scots Pine, Larch and Spruce) from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland and Scotland. It is not possible to say what proportion of this quantity will ultimately be obtained but prospects are good. To supplement purchases from abroad home seed collection has been pushed vigorously and the results have exceeded expectations. About 516 lbs. of conifer seed has been collected and over 10,000 lbs. of hardwood seeds, mainly oak and beech.
The Estimate for the coming year represents an increase of £25,910 on the amount provided for 1947-48. The increase is due in the main to provision for an increased planting programme. A large increase in the receipts from sales of firewood was anticipated but the change in the fuel position has altered the situation. There is no longer the same necessity to provide stocks of firewood in the larger cities and retail prices have fallen. Against this fall in receipts there has been a saving on labour during the past year as felling operations were stopped in many forests from which it had been intended to supply firewood to Dublin, Cork and other centres.
The position as regards acquisition of land is not very satisfactory. Though the total area acquired last year compares favourably with acquisitions for the years immediately preceding, the percentage of unplantable land included is very high. One of the main difficulties is that associated with the securing of suitable land in large blocks. Three hundred acres of plantable land is the minimum necessary for economic working. In fact much larger blocks can be developed with approximately the same overhead costs for supervision, etc. The process of building up economic blocks from small areas is slow and expensive and is complicated by the fact that mountain land is held in undivided shares by a number of people or is subject to grazing rights similarly held. For these reasons it is difficult to secure agreement with all the persons having an interest in the land and negotiations frequently drag on for years before purchase can be effected. The forestry division has a reserve of over 30,000 acres of unplanted land in hands but without a yearly increase at least equal to the area planted the reserve of land will soon begin to diminish and co-ordination of nursery and planting programmes will become still more difficult. Special attention is being given to this problem and the staff dealing with the purchase of land, particularly the outdoor staff, will be strengthened as soon as possible.
In the establishment of large forest areas, the co-ordination of nursery and planting programmes is a most important and complicated part of the business, and is one about which there appears to be widespread lack of knowledge or understanding. Trees intended for timber, and by timber I mean good commercial timber, cannot be grown as easily or as quickly as hedgerow or other ornamental or fruit trees, nor as easily or as quickly as ordinary crops. Nursery programmes have to be planned considerably in advance of the actual planting out of trees in their final positions. The plants used for planting out are normally three years old, so that sowings of seed made, say, in the autumn of 1947, will not leave the nurseries as young trees until 1950 or 1951. Assuming normal germination and healthy growth, the co-ordination of nursery and planting programmes would necessitate a decision now, i.e., at least three years beforehand, in regard to the extent and nature of the ground to be planted in the winter of 1950 and 1951. That is necessary so as to ensure that the proper variety and the requisite quantities of seeds should be purchased. Not only has the variety of the trees to be determined on a scientific basis in relation to the timber needs of the country, but it has also to be determined in relation to the type of land to be planted and to considerations affecting the best mixture of trees in the plantations. Different species behave differently, and experience is constantly pointing to the varying requirements of growing timber.
Put as a simple example in which, say, the Government might decide by systematic afforestation to build up ab initio an area of, say, 500,000 acres of plantations in 50 years at the rate of 10,000 acres per annum progress would work out in this way. More than 10,000 acres of plantable land, including nursery land, would have to be acquired in the first year. The land would have to be scientifically examined to decide the species to be planted and would have to be prepared. Nurseries would have to be established and seed purchased and sown to produce, let us say, sufficient sitka spruce plants at the end of four years to plant an area suited for that species in the first 10,000 acres acquired. No planting could be done in the first year.
In the second year at least another 10,000 acres of plantable land are acquired, the area surveyed and a selection of species made as before. Seed has to be sown in the nurseries to produce enough plants of spruce at the end of four years to plant and area selected for that species in this second 10,000 acres. In addition seed has to be sown to produce enough plants of larch and other species at the end of three years to plant an area suited for these species in the first 10,000 acres. No planting could be done.
In the third year at least another 10,000 acres of plantable land are acquired and surveyed and a selection of species made. Seed has to be sown in this year to produce spruce at the end of four years to plant the spruce areas in this third 10,000 acres. In addition, seed has to be sown to produce the larch, etc. at the end of three years for the second 10,000 acres and seed has to be sown to produce enough plants of pines and hardwoods at the end of two years to plant an area suitable for these species in the first 10,000 acres. No planting could be done.
In the fourth year at least another 10,000 acres of plantable land are acquired. Seed has to be purchased to produce spruce at the end of four years to plant the spruce areas in this fourth 10,000 acres. In addition, seed has to be sown to produce larch, etc. at the end of three years for the third 10,000 acres and seed has to be sown to produce pines, etc. at the end of two years for the second 10,000 acres.
In the fourth year planting of the first 10,000 acres can, now be carried out with four years' old spruce, three years' old larch, etc., and two years' old pines, etc. The number of plants grown, if everything has gone satisfactorily, should be just sufficient for planting this area and no more. In the meantime, however, many things may have happened to prevent the correct numbers being produced. There may be surplus of some species and deficiencies in others.
In the fifth and subsequent years the procedure is as for the fourth year and the afforestation scheme should be in full swing.
The procedure just outlined would be ideal for carrying out an afforestation programme, but its success depends on the regular acquisition of not less than 10,000 acres of plantable land annually, upon a delay of four years before any area is planted to enable the proper species and types of plants to be grown in the proper proportions, and, lastly, upon no hindrance to the production of these trees in the numbers required.
This simple position is, however, very different from what is and has been actually happening in this country for many years past. Owing to the great difficulties of getting land, seeds and materials, there has not been, and there could not have been, a firmly fixed programme for annual planting. The annual programme had to be arranged as best it could, and had to be built up of a large number of small patches of land here and there, some of which have been acquired for three years, some for two years, some for one year and some for only a few weeks before being planted.
In dealing with the different subheads of the Forestry Vote, I propose to refer in detail only to those items which show appreciable differences from last year's figures.
The provision under sub-head C. (1.) has been reduced by a sum of £5,000 as compared with last year. This does not indicate any slackening of efforts to secure additional land for forestry, the intention being, as I mentioned earlier, to endeavour to increase the rate of acquisition as soon as possible. The reduction is, I hope, a temporary one and due merely to passing conditions. During last year, the forestry division purchased 7,345 acres of land and now has in the Land Acquisition Fund a total of approximately £44,800. Subject to the completion of the usual legal formalities, the division has agreed to purchase, from private landowners, at a cost of £23,034, areas totalling 5,890 acres and from the Land Commission 765 acres at a cost of £2,475.
Negotiations have also reached an advanced stage for the purchase of of 3,476 acres from private landowners at a cost of £9,847 and negotiations are proceeding with the Land Commission for the purchase of 6,397 acres at a cost of £22,760.
For various reasons some of these negotiations may ultimately prove abortive and others will take a considerable time to complete, so that the provision of £20,000 will probably be sufficient to meet actual outgoings during this financial year.
Sub-head C (2) is the main item in the Forestry Estimates and provides for the maintenance of existing plantations and the planting and development of new areas.
The amount first voted under this sub-head last year was £260,089 and was intended to provide for a planting programme of 6,000 acres. Owing to the nursery situation and late arrival of rabbit netting such a programme could not be carried out, nor, owing to a rise of about 20 per cent. in the wages of forestry labourers, would the amount provided have been sufficient. During the year the provision was increased by a sum of £52,216 to provide for additional labour to be recruited for the felling and preparation of about 40,000 tons of firewood for Messrs. Fuel Importers' depôts in the non-turf areas. The anticipated shortage of fuel was relieved by the arrival of imports of coal and fellings were discontinued or reduced at many centres. Considerable quantities of logs and blocks intended for transport to the cities will be available for sale locally in the neighbourhood of the forests.
The programme of road making which has been in operation for some years past will be continued this year wherever necessary to allow of the extraction of poles and timber from those plantations which have reached the thinning stage. At present there is a good market at home for poles for various uses and any surplus over requirements can be sold for export as pitprops, etc.
It is essential, for the purpose of extending planting operations in future years, that adequate stocks of plants be built up in the State nurseries. This requirement is not being overlooked though certain varieties of seed are still in short supply. Since it takes on an average three years to produce a transplant of the proper age for planting out, no immediate replacement of unforeseen shortages is possible. Nor is any advantage to be gained by the sowing of unduly large stocks of such varieties as are obtainable without an assurance that suitable ground for the growth of such species will be available for planting in three or four years' time. In view of the length of time it takes to grow a tree to the stage at which it becomes a marketable commodity, it would be a mistake, for the sake of a year or two, to plant any species on ground where soil or other conditions were definitely unsuitable for their normal growth.
Shortly before the outbreak of war, the forestry division purchased a number of portable crosscutting machines for use in the preparation of firewood blocks from inferior timber standing on ground which had to be cleared for the planting of more suitable varieties. With the fuel situation which developed during the war, the number of these machines was increased and some of them have been continuously in use so that they are now nearing the end of their periods of usefulness. This happily coincides with the disposal of the greater part of the stocks of purely firewood timber which the Department had on hands and also with a probable large falling off in the demand for firewood. The provision for the upkeep and running of these machines has, therefore, been reduced and probably some of them will have to be sold as scrap and a reduced number concentrated in those areas where a market for firewood, fencing stakes, etc. can still be found.
Under sub-head C (3) provision is made for the working of the Department's sawmills, of which the two most important ones are those at Dundrum, County Tipperary, and Cong, County Mayo. The third mill is at Avondale, County Wicklow, and is used mainly to give experience to the forestry trainees. The mills at Dundrum and Cong do a steady local trade in rough boards, fencing stakes, cart material, felloes, spokes, etc. Both of the mills are old, and consideration is being given to the remodelling of them for more efficient working. The erection of up-to-date drying kilns at Dundrum from which seasoned timber can be turned out, both for the Department's own use and for sale, is also under active consideration. It is hoped to demonstrate by means of the products of these kilns that native timber can be marketed in a condition to compare most favourably with imported timber, and that the prejudice against native timber which appears to exist amongst architects, builders and others is due, not to any inherent defects in the timber itself, but to the way in which it has hitherto been used in an unseasoned state.
Under sub-head D an increase of £500 is required in the provision under this sub-head, out of which payment is made of the grant of £10 per acre, which, under certain conditions, the Department is prepared to pay to private landowners and local authorities who carry out planting operations on their own lands. Up to the present, very little planting has been possible owing to the impossibility of procuring rabbit netting and the scarcity of suitable plants.
The position regarding rabbit netting for general use is improving slowly. During the past year the forestry division were in consultation with the tree nursery trade, on which falls the duty of meeting, at reasonable charges, the public demand for suitable transplants, and I should like to state that any persons who are bound to plant as a condition of a felling licence, and who find difficulty in procuring the specified varieties, will be advised as to the substitution of other suitable varieties if details are submitted to the forestry division. I am particularly anxious that everybody who has an acre of land suitable for the growth of trees should take advantage of this grant.
In sub-head H, it will be observed that there is a drop of about £18,500 in the receipts estimated for this year. This is due to the fact that a considerable quantity of firewood prepared during last summer and winter for despatch to Fuel Importers' depôts is no longer required and the material will have to be disposed of locally at the best prices obtainable. Apart from this there is likely to be a decrease in the receipts from large sales of timber due to the fact that most of the mature timber in the State forests has been sold to meet demands arising out of the shortage of imported timber during the war years and to the necessity of conserving the small remaining lots of timber of building quality for the Department's own requirements.
In consequence of the reappearance in the markets of quantities of imported timber, the number of felling notices being received annually had begun to show a decided decrease but the abnormal weather of the spring of 1947, coupled with the shortage of all types of fuel, caused a large and sudden increase. It is hoped that for the future the number of felling notices will decrease and that owners will endeavour to reduce fellings to a minimum and to retain ornamental strips and groves wherever possible.
It is also to be hoped that a considerable amount of voluntary planting will be done on private lands to make up for the abnormal fellings which conditions during the past eight years have forced upon the country. Apart from what may be done in this way, there is considerable leeway to be made up in regard to replanting which has to be carried out as a condition of the issue of felling licences. The factors which rendered replanting practically impossible are slowly disappearing and as soon as conditions permit the Department intends to take up strongly the question of enforcing replanting conditions. Persons concerned are reminded that, so far as registered land is concerned, the obligation to replant will, as soon as the Act of 1946 comes into force, and this will now not be long, be entered in the relative folio as a burden on the holding and will continue as a burden until evidence has been produced to show that the necessary planting has been satisfactorily carried out. Failure to replant, apart from the other penalties which may be inflicted and which may be considerable, as it is a continuing offence which cannot be escaped at the cost of a fine, will render sale of a holding less easy and may appreciably reduce the price which might otherwise be obtained.