Editorial Notes. 815 



sities aflford should not be allowed to pass by those interested in the 

 establishment of a British School of Forestry. In all probability such 

 a Science as " Forestry " was never thought of in the compilation of 

 the report of the Universities Commission, and it behoves those interested. 

 and the country generally, to see that the matter is properly brought 

 under the notice of the Government before the suggestions of the Com- 

 mission have passed into law. 



What is the Scottish Arboricultural Society doing in this very 

 important matter ? Surely its voice ought to be heard in the most 

 decided manner upon such a subject. Through the medium of its able 

 and influential President and energetic Council, it should be in a posi- 

 tion to take steps at any time to have such a vitally important matter 

 laid before the Government in due form. In its efforts to do so we are 

 certain that it would command the earnest support of all who are in 

 any way interested in the rural prosperity of the country, as well as of 

 those more intimately connected with the growth, sale, and manufacture 

 of timber. The boon of having such an institution, in which to train 

 our foresters, would be of inestimable value to India and our colonies, 

 besides exercising a most beneficial influence on the management 

 and productiveness of our home forests. 



No institution of a national character has ever been established 

 without meeting some opposition, let the cause be ever so vital, and 

 the objections urged trivial in the extreme. Considerable stress has 

 been laid by the opponents of a British School of Forestry upon the 

 natural want of very extensive tracts of land under forests in this 

 country, as rendering it unsuitable for the teaching of Forestry. No 

 more untenable reason could easily be found. The same absurd 

 objection applies more or less, and, we grant, with equally limited 

 force, to all similar institutions nurtured within the area and upon the 

 capabilities of this sea-girt isle. Is there any known civil Art or 

 Science which cannot be taught efficiently within the limits of the 

 United Kingdom ? The very suggestion is simply preposterous. 

 Because we have not the teeming multitudes of France, Germany, or 

 Kussia to experiment with, does any sane person doubt the capacity 

 of Britain to teach the arts of statesmanship or war ? by which the 

 British Empire has been won and is ruled, to the admiration, and we 

 may justly add the welfare of the civihzed world ? Then why, of all 

 the arts, should we not be capable of teaching the Art of Forestry ? 

 and teaching it too in such a thorough manner as to enable our sons 

 to go forth to the world armed with the knowledge and power to 

 meet and conquer all foreign competition in the proper management 

 of forests, natural or otherwise. With reasonable and unprejudiced 

 people, any objections which have ever been raised against the 

 establishment of an institution for the proper teaching of the Art and 



