1884.] INSTRUCTION IN FORESTRY. 109 



Scottish Arboricultural Society said last year that it had fallen down 

 to about three-quarters of a million, or 750,000 acres. This is the 

 state of things- in Great Britain. Let us now cross to Scandinavia. 

 In the northern part of Norway there is something of the same sort 

 of oblivion of forestry that there is in this country, but in Southern 

 Norway — that picturesque Norway we resort to — and throughout 

 Sweden, the urea of forests is remarkable, and constitutes the leadintr 

 feature in the Scandinavian landscape, covered with Pine forests. T 

 have been sometimes in the midst of grand scenery where, from the 

 ground below up to the lofty peaks above, there was nothing but one 

 waving mass of Pines. That is the characteristic of Norway and 

 Sweden ; there they preserve forests in an enlightened and patriotic 

 manner for the preservation of the national wealth. It pays them 

 wonderfully well to do so. It is, indeed, the main source of their 

 wealth. It is the most precious of all material possessions to them. 

 Then, again, I have recently travelled in Germany. I have observed 

 that the Germans, though they have a vast growing population, 

 nevertheless have preserved most carefully all the forests on their 

 principal hills, that is to say, in the upper basin of the Ithine, of the 

 Elbe, and in many other places. Their forest preservation is a model 

 for all other nations. They do it, not for climatic reasons, but for 

 the preservation of the national wealth. The same remark applies in 

 Eastern France, that is to say, to the Vosges mountains, in the arena 

 which was the scene of the Franco-German War. There is also 

 Nancy, which is the great forest school of France. I am not here in 

 any way to pronounce a defence of or panegyric upon the administra- 

 tion of the late Emperor Napoleon the Third, but whatever may have 

 been his faults of ambition, nevertheless he was one of the first 

 men in France to introduce a system of sound forestry in that country. 

 This has been done in Eastern France for the preservation, again, of 

 the national wealth, rather than for climatic reasons. Now, I have 

 referred to three countries — Scandinavia, Germany, and Eastern 

 France, all of which maintain their forests for the national prosperity 

 and for the supply of the markets of the world. It is very luck} for 

 us in Great Britain that there are such sources of the supply of foreign 

 timber. We get our timber, as you know, from Scandinavia and Canada. 

 Next, the art of forestry is cultivated in some other countries I am 

 about to mention, not only for the augmeutation of the national 

 wealth, but also for the sake of preserving the moisture and fertility 

 in the soil, and for maintaining a tempi-rate climate. For ensuring a 

 temperate climate to the inhabitants, the first to be mentioned is 

 Southern France. The guide-books nmst familiar to tourists tell of 

 the immense injury wrought in Soulheru France by the destruction 

 of the forests which used to exist there. In consequence the ground 



