WHAT WILL THEY DO WITH THEM/" [Nc 



" WHAT WILL THEY DO WITH THEMV 



THIS was really the question by the Executive put to a Cou- 

 feveiK-e on Forestry and the Establishment of a Forestry 

 iScliool in Edinburgh, called during the closing week of the Exhibi- 

 tion. The leading foresters and arboriculturists of Scotland were 

 present, but tlie speaking was mostl}' confined to the Executive. 

 Dr. Cleghorn enumerated the topics of nine lectures given in the 

 Committee room, each a most apt subject of discussion. The Ee- 

 afforestation of Ireland, Eoot-growth, The Undeveloped Forest Eiches 

 of New Brunswick and Johore, as well as others with cognate titles, 

 had been given. But neither these nor the forty-two prize essays 

 were to be discussed. 



Xow that the Exhibition was about to close, and, in accoi'dance 

 with tlie primary aim held out at the opening of the Exhibition Ijy 

 the Marquis of Lothian, a mass of valuable exhibits had been placed 

 at the disposal of the Executive, what should lie done with them ? 



The proposal of a Forestry IMuseum for Edinburgh irresistibly 

 awakens the memory of the late Professor John Hutton Balfour. 

 Long before the advent of the IMuseum of Science and Art, Pro- 

 fessor Balfoui' was tlie moving spirit of the Museum of Economic 

 Botany, whicli it was an aim of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 

 to estalilish. The natural outcome of tlie Exhibition appeared to 

 many to be the extension and consolidation of this museum so long 

 open to the public at the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, — specially in view 

 of its intimate connection with the Arboretum. But intimation had 

 been given by Professor Dickson, that space at the Gardens was 

 available for only a few of the exhibits, indeed only such of them 

 as could be exposed scatheless in the open air. Tlie Lord Provost 

 somewhat pointedly commented on this. The city had purchased 

 the Arboretum grounds for J20,000, and handed them over to 

 Government, with an implied understanding that a Forestry School 

 should be established. But the pressing question was where to 

 place the exhibits about to be left out in the cold ; so the subject of 

 the institution of the school by Government was adjourned. Mr. 

 Hutchison, of Carlowrie, mooted three tentative solutions of the 

 question. Two of these suggested means of providing temporary 

 iiccommodation for the specimens ; the other involved the scheme 

 of holding yearly a series of such exhibitions, though on different 

 Scottish industries, in which the present exhibits might hold a 

 .subsidiary place. The meeting eventually referred the subject to a 

 committee with full powers. The method, though not the details, of 

 the two first proposals has since been adopted. 



