EDITORIAL NOTES. Nov., 



country to the educated level which it has attained in every other 

 civilised state. 



The best tes^. of the success and usefulness of any Society is the 

 desire of those whom it specially concerns to join its ranks ; and 

 looking at it from this purely practical point of view, the Scottish 

 Ar])oricultaral Society has had an unusual amount of success in 

 recent times. Under the patronage of Her Most Gracious Majesty 

 the Queen, it has gained a large accession to its members from 

 amongst the nobility and landowners of the country, who form the 

 mainstay of most institutions of the kind ; whilst at the same time it 

 has been equally attractive to the foresters, land-agents, timber- 

 merchants, and to those members of the general public who take an 

 interest in the promotion of science and arts beneficial to their 

 fellow-men. 



* 

 The excellent address delivered by the President, the distinguished 

 ex-Indian forester and veteran arborist Dr. Cleghorn, gives an 

 interesting precis of the career of the Society and of its progress, step by 

 step, from its small beginning a generation ago to its full maturity at 

 the present day. To the few who have been members throughout 

 the review must be extremely pleasing, as well as to those who can 

 only claim a few years' acquaintance with it. The past and the future 

 prospects of the Society are alike satisfactory and encouraging. 

 Under the able presidency of Dr. Cleghorn, we expect the ensuing 

 year will be one of marked progress in the affairs of the Society, 

 and the beginning of an era when it will distinguish itself as greatly 

 in the science as it has already done in the technics of forestry. 



* * 

 * 



For some time a feeling has prevailed that the useful Excursions 

 which the Society has made once or twice a year to the woods and 

 plantations of several districts in Scotland, were not so productive of 

 practical results as the majority who joined in them could wish. It 

 was therefore a wise decision of the Council to set this subject down 

 for discussion at the past meeting, so as to elicit a free expression 

 of the views of the members. Although we are not prepared to 

 endorse everything that was said, the matter was discussed with 

 much good sense, and with an evident desire on the part of the 

 speakers to promote the best interests of the Society as well as to en- 

 courage good feeling amongst the members, and where such a desirable 

 spirit prevails, much good is certain to be the result. The Council 



