34 PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS. 



exercising their powers under the Act of 1886, of ridding the country of this dreadful 

 scourge. That was what the Board approved of, and resolved to do. At the very 

 same meeting the Board passed a resolution to send a deputation to the Privy 

 Council to ask a grant for inquiry as to the merits of inoculation, and also asking 

 tliem to carry out their proposals. The Board had not committed itself to 

 indiscriminate slaughter. He thought tlie Board were right, with such a good 

 ojiportunity, in asking the Privy Council to exercise their povi^ers. 



Mr Stirling said no one could regret more than he did the absence of Sir James 

 Gibson-Craig of late from their meetings, because they all knew perfectly well how 

 thoroughly conversant he was with the state of matters in Mid-Lothian and the 

 interest he took in them. Had he been j^resent he ventured to say that he would 

 have agreed thoroughly with the recommendation of the committee, because they 

 were most careful, in their selection of witnesses, to choose those who had thorough 

 experience, and who could speak with some authority on the subject. There was no 

 doubt that there was the most extraordinary difference of opinion as to the two 

 courses to be pursued. He had much pleasure in endorsing what the gentleman 

 from Forfarshire had said, because as chairman of the local authority of Perthshire 

 he knew that there had been various communications between the two counties. He 

 also thoroughly endorsed what had been said by Sir James Gibson-Craig as to 

 inoculation. Whether they were in favour of entire slaughter or not, their opinion 

 had been changed by the success of inoculation in Perthshire, where they could never 

 trace a single outbreak of disease to any case where the stock had. been inoculated. 

 It was always traced to new stock brought into the county. When the Privy 

 Council received them in London they listened most favourably to all they had to 

 say, and treated them with very great courtesy, but they pointed out that the great 

 difficidty in dealing with this matter was the question of expense. Their adviser 

 stated that the first effect of adopting their resolution, and going in for experiments 

 to determine the success of inoculation or not, would be that he would have to ask 

 compensation for the'whole three hundred cattle that were inoculated in the county of 

 Perth, which would have to be slaughtered to find out whether the inoculation was 

 effectual or not, and every county would require to be treated in a similar manner. 

 In the face of that advice given to the Privy Council, he thought they would 

 thoroughly understand that they could hardly expect a favourable reply to the 

 request that they would provide the money necessary. 



Sir James Gibson-Craig thought the most satisfactory way to deal with the 

 matter would be to bring it up again at the June meeting. So far as Mr Stirling's 

 jiroposal was concerned — to slaughter all the animals to see how they got on 



Mr Stirling. — Not my proposal. 



The report was then approved. 



Forestry Department. 



Sir Robert Menzies, Bart, of Menzies, said — As convener of the Society's Forestry 

 Dejiartment, I have to report that a committee, consisting of Sir Herbert E. 

 Maxwell, Bart.; Dr C'leghorn ; Mr Maxwell, yr. of Munches; Dr Aitken ; Mr 

 Macgregor, Ladywell ; Mr Aitken, Norwood ; Mr John Methven, Edinburgh ; Mr 

 Lindsay, curator of the Botanic Gardens, and himself, had been appointed to arrange 

 the nature and extent of the examination for the Society's certificates in forestry. 

 The committee held a meeting this forenoon, when a sub-committee was appointed 

 to revise the Society's syllabus of the examinations, and to make suggestions for 

 placing the Forestry Department on an improved footing. 



The rei^ort was adopted. 



Chemical Department. 



Dr Aitken submitted the following report : — 



Experimental Stations. — The experiments at Harelaw have now come to a close. 

 The crop last season was barley, and the object in view was to estimate the amount 

 of unexhausted fertility remaining in the land, and derived from the annual sujiplies 

 of manure that had been given in former years. At Pumiiherston the crop was 

 barley, sown out with seeds for permanent grass, and no manures were applied. The 

 grass mixture consisted of a fair proportion of the different grasses, clover, &c., 

 suitable for pasture ; and if we may judge from the appearances presented by the 

 various plots during the autumn, the grass experiments promise to be very interesting. 

 There is no crop which requires more attention paid to it than grass in these times, 

 and the plots at Pumpherston present facilities for studying the manurial treatment 

 of grass which are quite uniqvie. 



The Chemical Committee have had under consideration a scheme for bringing the 

 Chemical Department of the Society into more intimate relation with the local wants 

 of agriculture. Owing to the very diverse conditions under which agriculture is 



