TIPPERARY TREES
There are very few woods, and these are mostly mere copses, consisting of underwood, or stunted oak, whitethorn and birch. The defect is in course of being remedied by the numerous plantations around the mansions of the gentry, in some of the glens and on the sides of the hills; the most extensive wood of this description is that in the western Galtees, round the mountain lodge of the Earl of Kingston. Several good nurseries for forest trees have been established, particularly in the neighbourhood of Clonmel, and great encouragement to plant is held out by many of the landed proprietors. The greatest extent of bog is that formed originally by the obstructed waters of the Nore, which constitutes a tract of 36,025 statute acres, between Roscrea, Urlingford, and Killenaule, forming part of the bog of Allen: its general elevation is about 400 feet above the level of the sea.
This vast tract, now wholly unprofitable except for fuel, is, according to a computation made by the surveyors in 1811, capable of being reclaimed at the moderate expense of 5s. per acre, and of being converted into land of the best quality; but with the exception of petty encroachments and improvements on the borders, no attempt has hitherto been made to carry into execution the plans then deemed practicable.
The great object is the removal of obstructions in the bed of the Nore, which flows through these morasses, and must form their main drain. There are several other detached bogs, all capable of being reclaimed, because they command a fall towards some one of the great rivers of the county. Yet, notwithstanding these extended tracts of turbary, the bog is so unequally distributed that the peasantry in many parts suffer much from the want of fuel; in the neighbourhood of Cahir, the women and children are chiefly employed in collecting every thing of a combustible nature from the ditches and roads. In 1786, one of the smaller bogs of the county overflowed, and submerged some lands in its progress to the Suir at Ballygriffin.
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