174 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



all the important States have either one or more Forestry schools, 

 or have made provision for various chairs of Forestry at their 

 universities. Even Belgium, with a forest area of 1,750,000 

 acres, or not very much more than the half of that in Britain, 

 though producing the good annual income of £4,000,000, has 

 established its own National School of Forestry. Again, the New 

 York State, to meet its special requirements, and to protect its 

 own State forests, founded a College of Forestiy at Cornell 

 University in 1898. Besides giving it an endowment of 10,000 

 dollars a year, provision was also made for acquiring a demon- 

 stration forest of 30,000 acres in the Adirondack Hills. 



With regard to instruction, it is of interest to consider the 

 course of the movement, which began with the Forestry 

 Exhibition of 18S4, for the foundation of a Chair of Forestry 

 at Edinburgh University. It was disappointing that your then 

 president could only refer to this proposed chair in August 1897 

 as being in a "one-legged condition." It was originally under- 

 stood that if the desirability of having such a professional chair 

 could be proved by public subscriptions amounting to £'5000, 

 Government would provide other £5000 to complete the neces- 

 sary endowment. Since then, changes have taken place which 

 necessitate an endowment fund of £15,000 before the University 

 Court can be asked to found a chair. But, up to the end of 1898, 

 only £3016 had been subscribed, including the sums of £500 and 

 £50, which were presented by the partners of a teak timber firm 

 in Rangoon. Now, the present seems to me an opportune time 

 for renewing efforts in this direction ; and if only even £5000 

 could be raised, the Government might possibly be willing to 

 consider the question of completing the endowment. At any- 

 rate, it seems well worth trying for. 



Many works on Sylviculture have appeared within the last 

 few years ; but Forestry can only, like all other arts, be acquired 

 by practical training as well as by theoretical study. This want 

 can, however, easily be supplied without entailing the expense 

 of investment in a large model forest, as was recently proposed 

 in 1898. No doubt the State and other landed proprietors who 

 may have working plans prepared for their woodlands will follow 

 the public-spirited example of Mr Munro Ferguson, and permit 

 their estates to be visited now and again as object-lessons in 

 practical Forestry. It therefore seems to me a far more im- 

 portant thing first of all to provide thoroughly adequate, easily 



