480 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



struction. We have observed with, great pleasure your own 

 interest in the subject of technical instruction for agriculture, and 

 I might point out to you, perhaps, that if it is necessary for agri- 

 culture it is far more necessary for forestry, because the forestry 

 crop extends probably over a century, whereas the crop in agri- 

 culture is a matter of a few weeks. Colonel Bailey will speak on 

 the subject of his pamphlet, and Mr Pitcaithley, forester at 

 Scone, will offer you a few observations also upon the want that is 

 felt by the practical working forester of some provision of the 

 character we ask. Reference will also be made to the subject of 

 the quantity and quality of home produce, and the probable falling 

 off of foreign supplies. Schools at which forestry instruction is 

 provided are very considerable in number in Germany. At places 

 like Munich there are several forestry chairs, and at the Uni- 

 versity of Giessen you find a set of forestry gardens — 25 acres or 

 so — divided into plots, in each of which a separate experiment is 

 being carried on, to find out under which systems the greatest 

 amount of wood can be produced per acre, and to ascertain the 

 best means of preserving trees against various kinds of diseases 

 and insects. We have nothing of that kind here, and no amount 

 of private enterprise will really provide what we seek, because you 

 can have no guarantee of continuity in private management. One 

 proprietor or one forester may begin a demonstration of all that is 

 required, but the chances are a hundred to one that the whole 

 thing will be upset by his successor. The only satisfactory thing, 

 therefore, is to have this kind of work done by the State. You 

 will have perceived that from the time of the Select Committee on 

 Forestry, the amount of material connected with our case is coming 

 to be large. I have here one or two other papers which perhaps I 

 may hand in. There are papers in our Transactions, and there 

 are pamphlets and reports which have been submitted to the 

 Board of Agriculture. We find that although we have concen- 

 trated on two or three main points, yet the demands made on the 

 Government are on the whole pretty considerable ; and if I might 

 venture off my own bat to make a suggestion, it would be that 

 perhaps you might consider whether a committee might not be 

 appointed, partly official, partly unofficial, to deal with these 

 different propositions and to make a report to you, sir. The most 

 effective committee or commission that I ever served on was one 

 in connection with lighthouses, some four or five years ago. We 

 had Mr Lamb from the Post Office, Mr Kemp from the Treasury, 



