Reintroducing the Scots Pine to Ireland
There are many different species of tree that are native to Ireland and one of those is the Scots pine. Unfortunately over the years, the Scots pine has become extinct as a natural species and has been reintroduced. In terms of timber production, the Scots pine holds second place only to the mighty oak and the timber of the Scots pine is used for many different purposes. Once the logs are very straight, the sawn timber can be made into all sorts of different products. The wood is known as red deal. The timber from trees that are not very straight can still be used in the production of pulp. The Scandinavian countries had a process of manufacturing tar products presumably from the sap and it is worth also being distilled into a concoction to treat such problems as eczema and other skin problems and had even been used to treat hemorrhoids. Much of this tar production has died out since the Industrial Revolution, but there are still small pockets of manufacturers using the process today.
The tree has been absent from Irish forestry for many years now and its reintroduction now gives the forester another species that will grow on Ireland’s diverse soil. The Scots pine can grow in a variety of different soils from the wet bog lands to very dry soils. They will also grow in cohabitation with deciduous species without competing for the same nutrients. If the Scots pine is grown using modern forestry practices including forest thinning, the tree can establish itself as a dominant species again.
One of the proofs that still remain in the country to show that the Scots pine was once a very great and widespread tree in the Irish forests are the remnants which are to be found found in the bog. These remnants come in the form of bog deal. The bog deal is basically the remnants of tree stumps or fallen tree trunks that have become immersed in the wetlands. Over the millennia, these wetlands have been transformed into bog land. In the course of modern day construction, farming, and of course land erosion, the pieces of bog deal have been uncovered. Many artists use the pieces of bog deal that they have found as forms of sculpture.