1885.] THE ENGLISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETT. 189' 



Suburbs." — It was decided to approach Dr. Lyons, M.P., as to 

 lecturing upon forestry at Carlisle, and that prizes be given for the 

 best essay on larch disease. It was also agreed that none of the 

 papers read before the Society should be published in pamphlet form 

 before appearing in the Society's Transactions. 



INCREASING INTEREST IN FORESTRY. 



The chairman delivered an address, in the course of which he 

 said the past year had been a red-letter one in the annals of forestry. 

 At no previous time was it recorded that so much had been spoken, 

 written, and practically done in connection with the subject. The 

 country at large was waking up to the vast importance of timber, 

 which formed the back-bone of all industries. Some of the most 

 important questions of the day were " Tree-planting versus Corn-grow- 

 ing," " British Schools of Forestry," " Re-afforesting of Ireland," and 

 " Colonial Wood-conserving." During this year they had inaugurated 

 the first " Forestry Exhibition " ever held in Europe. Sir John 

 Lubbock would shortly move in the House of Commons to inquire 

 into the state of the woods and forests of this country. Dr. Lyons 

 had already done so, and had also lectured upon forestry in Edinburgh, 

 Chester, and other places. Essays had been written and read every- 

 where, and hardly a publisher's catalogue appeared without a refer- 

 ence to some book or work upon the subject. All this was satis- 

 factory, and proved that the art with which they were connected 

 was receiving general attention. There was not much sign of 

 agriculture becoming more profitable ; and a large proportion of 

 laud hitherto cultivated in more prosperous times would be better 

 under woodlands, inasmuch as it would not only give a better return, 

 but also improve the value of the adjoining lands in every respect. 

 He was fortified in this statement by a paper read by Mr. Baty, at 

 the Forestry Exhibition, in which he gave the result of twenty-eight 

 years' management of the Netherby woods, showing that the receipts 

 from 2000 acres of woodlands amounted to £1, 10s. lid. per acre, 

 and the expenditure 1 2s. 4d. Early in the present century the Earl 

 of Cawdor planted on his Nairnshire proiserty 800 acres of hilly 

 land, the value of which was but nominal ; and now that it had been 

 cut and sold, the wood realized the handsome sum of £16,000. 

 Schools of Forestry were wanted for instruction for the sake of 

 national progress. As a nation they should have a school of 

 foresters that would carry the scientific principles of forestry abroad 

 wherever England had any direct influence politically or nationally. 

 We had hitherto been indebted to France and Germany for the 

 education of the foresters required for our colonial plantations. He 

 believed, however, that a scientific school combining forestry, agri- 



