W. SOMERVTLLE 337 



farmer has the power to reorganise his rotations and cultivations, to 

 test new crops or new varieties of crop plants, to secure new manures or 

 to revise his manurial system. In the case of the forester the situation is 

 somewhat different. He is slow to change his methods because he is 

 dealing with a crop which may not mature for a century, and a mistake 

 on his part cannot be corrected in a year or two. Moreover, he is rarely 

 in a position of sufficient independence to have the power to adopt drastic 

 modifications even were he qualified by training to make large decisions. 

 It is really the owner who should be educated in scientific methods so 

 that he may intelligently direct the management of his woodlands. 

 There is no doubt that a great change for the better has, during the 

 past 20 years, come over the outlook of many estate owners in respect 

 of their woodlands. This body may still be small and select, but it will 

 grow, and it contains men of quick intelligence who are keen and alert 

 to appreciate all that science can show them. At the moment we are 

 at the parting of the ways in respect of forestry. We are witnessing the 

 break-up of large estates, and the passing of much of the land, including 

 woodlands, into the hands of smaller owners. Judging by what has 

 happened in Ireland under somewhat similar circumstances the new 

 owners, many of them farmers, are not likely to take much interest in 

 their plantations except in so far as they can be converted into cash. 

 But simultaneously with this change of ownership we have seen the 

 creation of a Forestry Commission which is charged with the duty of 

 extended afforestation, and the improvement of existing woodlands. 

 I imagine therefore that in the near future we shall see extended provision 

 made for the supply of scientific advice to woodland owners, and prob- 

 ably also schemes of co-partnership between the State and the individual. 

 In this way the relationship between research and practice should be 

 rendered much closer, and, especially so, as the Commission is likely to 

 take steps to encourage, or even directly to undertake, forestal investi- 

 gation and education. Then, again, the Commission is pledged to acquire 

 large areas of land for fresh afforestation, and the advantages of scientific 

 practice as illustrated in the State forests will react on the management 

 of private areas. 



At no time were class rooms and laboratories so crowded with pro- 

 spective landlords as at present, and it is the general experience that 

 these new students are imbued with an earnestness and keenness that 

 is most stimulating to their teachers. Only a small proportion of them 

 will become investigators in the narrower sense of the term, but all of 

 them it is hoped, will be sufficiently immersed in the scientific atmo- 



