president's address. 625 



death he had in contemplation a visit to England in the hope of 

 benefiting by the change. Many of his papers on Lepidoptera 

 and Coleoptera will be found in our Proceedings. An appreciative 

 notice by one of his colleagues, together with a complete list of 

 Mr. Olliff's papers, has appeared in the Agricultural Gazette, Vol. 

 vii. Part 1 (Jan. 1896). 



The year 1895 is especially memorable by the deaths of Huxley 

 and Pasteur, two of the foremost leaders in Science. They 

 occupied so prominent a position in the scientific world that their 

 loss has been truly felt to be of world-wide importance. In the 

 Journals and Magazines of the countries on both sides of the 

 Atlantic have been published numerous well-merited eulogies of 

 their lives and work, written from very varied standpoints, and in 

 many cases based upon special or personal knowledge. As they 

 are within reach, and have probably already come under your 

 notice, I should be at a disadvantage in any attempt to touch 

 further upon themes which have already evoked sympathetic and 

 appreciative treatment from those best qualified to speak. 



I propose now to say a few words on the subject of Forestry — 

 the importance of which is much underrated. 



Our forests have been left hitherto very much to themselves, 

 the idea being that as Nature has looked after them in the past 

 so a kind providence will continue to do so in the future. The 

 fact is overlooked, however, that with new conditions of settlement 

 the chances of shapely young trees growing up to replace those 

 removed are reduced to a minimum ; and so, as has occurred in 

 other countries, the depletion will go on till sooner or later a 

 feeling of alarm arises and the necessity for commencing the work 

 of afforestation is recognised, and the task has to be undertaken 

 at a much greater cost than if time had not been lost. 



The ignorance of the benefits to be derived from proper manage- 

 ment of the forests is very remarkable. We are possessed of 

 timber which in strength and durability can vie with the products 

 of all the world, and a large revenue could be made out of it. 

 Forestry is, as has been happily said by Professor Bailey Balfour, 



