1S83.] SCOTTISH ABBOBICUTUBAL SOCIETY. " 45 



It should be stated that the table for which the gold medal was awarded 

 to Mr. Mackenzie is a beautiful piece of inlaid work, the different woods 

 being placed in in geometric designs and arranged with considerable skill. 

 No fewer than sixty different species of wood, and 7GS pieces, were 

 employed in making the table, and it took three years to collect the 

 fipecimens on the Murthly Estate, Perthshire, where they were all grown. 



Mr. Dunn wished to add a few words of encouragement to the essayists. 

 He was very glad, indeed, to see the increased number of essays, and he 

 must say that the quality had also improved. It did great credit to the 

 men who had undertaken the hard work of getting up the Talual)le infor- 

 mation contained in the papers. There were hundieds of young foresters 

 in the country who were eligible to compete, and he hoped that they 

 would come out stronger in the future than they had hitherto done. 

 They need not mind how indifferently or plaiuly they wrote; what the 

 judges wanted was originality of idea and usefulness in the papers. If 

 they were first-class essayists, they would not be working as assistant 

 foresters. He was glad to think that they were to retain the services of 

 Dr. Cleghorn, who edited the ' Transactions ' in the most careful and 

 judicious manner. 



On the motion of Mi-. Hutchison, Dr. Cleghorn, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. 

 Baxter were elected judges for next year. 



A short adjournment was made to the Royal Botanic Gardens, where 

 Mr. Mackenzie's and Mr. Kay's Dendrometers were tested in measuring 

 the heights of various trees, and both were found to work with accuracy. 



A RoTAL Charter for the Society, and the Proposed 



IXTERXATIONAL FORESTRY EXHIBITION. 



Mr. Hutchison, convener of the committee as to the obtaining of a 

 Royal Charter, said that they had little to report. The position of the 

 Society would no doubt be greatly improved were they in possession of a 

 Royal Charter, but in the meantime he believed that much benefit would 

 accrue to the Society from the International Exhibition of Forestry which 

 was to be held next year in Edinburgh, The prospects of the Exhibition 

 were highly gratifying. The list of patrons was large and influential. 

 Their friend Sir Eichard Teinple, had expressed his warm interest in the 

 Exhibition, and had become a contributor to the guarantee fund. He 

 hoped they would have Sir Richard as one of the evening lecturers when 

 the Exhibition was open. The Exhibition was assuming much wider 

 proportions than was originally contemplated, and it probably would be 

 the prelude to a series of exhibitions of the industries of Scotiaud, from 

 which Edinburgh woali derive great benefit. It was the interest, there- 

 fore, of the City of Edinburgh to secure for the Exhibition the very best 

 site procurable. In his own mind he had all along had the idea that 

 there was only one bite suitable for such an international display, and 

 that was West Princes Street Gardens and the Castle slopes. That 

 enclosure could be utilised without in the least destroying its amenity, or 

 interfering with the trees. What he proposed was, that if the Lord- 



