DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE OX BRITISH FORESTRY. 6 



Select ComndUee 0/1885-87. 



2. We have also taken cognisance of the evidence given before 

 the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed in 

 1885, and reappointed in 188G and 1887, to consider whether, by 

 the establishment of a Forest School or otherwise, our woodlands 

 •could be rendered more remunerative. We considered that it was 

 unnecessary to recall the witnesses examined in 1885-87; but in 

 drawing up our present Report, due weight has been given to this 

 evidence, a digest of which, for convenience of reference, has been 

 prepared and is printed as an Appendix to the evidence taken 

 by us. 



Authorities. 



3. We have considered the recent publications of several 

 authorities on the improvement of forestry in this country, and 

 we have been guided by these as well as by the evidence taken. 

 A digest of some of these publications is printed as an Appendix. 



Select Coinmittees Recovimendations. 



4. The Select Committee of the House of Commons stated in 

 their Report that the possibility of improvement in the manage- 

 ment of our woodlands was so great that, even as regards those 

 belonging to the State, " the diflference between skilled and 

 unskilled management would itself more than repay the cost of 

 a Forest School. This area is trifling as compared with the 

 extent of private woodlands." They pointed out that almost 

 all civilised states have Forest Schools, that in the United 

 Kingdom there are large areas of waste, and that the woodlands 

 of the Empire, as a whole, are greater than those of any other 

 State. 



5. We endorse the conclusions of the Select Committee of 

 1885-87 as regards the neglected condition of forestry in Great 

 Britain, the possibility of improvement, and the necessity for 

 the provision of better means of education. But as regards that 

 Committee's final recommendation — the appointment of a Board 

 of Forestry — this is not now required, since forestry is one of the 

 subjects committed to the charge of the Board of Agriculture. 



Present Condition of Forestry. 



6. The present Dejjartmental inquiry starts very much at the 

 same point as did that of the Select Committee in 1885. It is 



