12 TRANSACTIOXS OP ROYAL SCOTTISH AEBORICULTUBAL SOCIETY. 



most suitable medium. But even here, if the foresters are to 

 spend sufficient time in them to acquire a competent practical 

 knowledge of their subject, the question of means presents 

 itself; and, moreover, manual work must be supplemented by 

 theoretical study. We accordingly recommend that student- 

 foresters be taken on as employees in receipt of regular wages, 

 and that classes be held, which they should be required to attend. 

 26. In order to provide for the instruction to be given in 

 these demonstration forests, we suggest that the State should 

 equip each of them with buildings, which would offer accommoda- 

 tion for a director and his assistant, and, if necessary, for ten to 

 twenty student-foresters. We do not anticipate that the cost of 

 the buildiogs would exceed £5000 to £7500 in each forest. The 

 director should be placed in suitable relationship with the 

 lecturers at the various colleges, and would be responsible for the 

 management of the forest and for the general conduct of the 

 school, and would, at the same time, give instruction in sylvi- 

 culture and forest management, mensuration and valuation. 

 His assistant wonld teach the subjects of the growth, structare, 

 and diseases of timber, the formation and properties of soil, and 

 forest entomology. We anticipate that the annual expense of 

 maintenance of each of these schools would be about £750, in 

 which the chief items would be the salaries of the director and 

 his assistant. The classes should be open to young foresters and 

 woodmen selected by County Council Technical Education Com- 

 mittees or otherwise, the normal term of residence being two years. 

 These students would thus work in the woods, and receive 

 systematic instruction. Experience of farm schools shows that 

 young men can be boarded and lodged for 10s. to 15s. per week. 

 We are convinced that at a very early date, if not immediately, 

 the advantages to foresters of the instruction to be gained in 

 these areas would be so fully recognised that there would b-i 

 keen competition to obtain an entry into the lower grades of the 

 service, and that the whole of the manual labour required in 

 the demonstration area would be performed by foresters who 

 come to learn. As an example of what may be expected, we 

 may point to the system at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 

 where the labourers and gardeners are now recridted entirely 

 from among qualified gardeners who are anxious to improve their 

 knowledge by working there for a certain period, and receiving 

 instruction. 



