ADDRESS BY THE VICE-PRESIDENT, AUGUST 6, 1894. 53 
would suggest, and I think it is possible for the Society to 
carry it out, that we should have fixed quarterly meetings, at 
which papers might be read on matters connected with lands, 
more especially in relation to forestry, and followed by a free 
discussion on the points raised in the papers. By this means 
a friendly interchange of our views, on many matters of the 
greatest importance to forestry, would receive more thorough 
sifting and careful attention than they have hitherto got from 
this or any other Society. 
I have already touched upon the necessity for a Forestry School, 
and I would now like to tell, in a few words, what other countries 
are doing for Forestry education. In France and Austria there 
are first-class Forest Schools, supported by the State. In the 
seven principal States forming the German empire, there are 
nine Higher-Class Schools, and numerous Secondary Schools, 
employing fifty-two professors and eleven assistants. Italy, 
Switzerland, and Spain have all Forest Schools. Sweden is just 
starting one. In India, there is the Dehra Dun Forest School, 
established sixteen years ago. In fact, all civilised countries, 
including Japan, have thoroughly efficient Forest Schools. 
The nature of the instruction given at these institutions is 
varied and complete. Take the Forest School at Nancy, France, 
for instance. Each year of study at the School comprises six and 
a half months of theoretical, and two and a half months of practical 
instruction ; one month is occupied by examinations, and there are 
two months of vacation. During the period devoted to theoretical 
instruction, the following subjects are taught, viz., First year— 
Sylviculture in all its branches; botany, including vegetable 
anatomy and physiology, as well as the classification of plants, 
and their geographical distribution, special attention being paid 
to forest trees and shrubs; political economy, with special 
reference to forest statistics; law, including forest laws and 
rules, together with such general knowledge of the common 
law of the country as is judged necessary; surveying and 
the construction of roads; the German language; military 
science; riding. Second year—Working plans or schemes of 
forest management; mineralogy and geology, with special refer- 
ence to the chemical and physical properties of forest soils; 
zoology, especially that branch of it relating to the insects 
which attack trees; agriculture; buildings, including houses, 
saw-mills, and bridges; the treatment of torrent beds, including 
