FORESTRY IN BRITAIN DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 25 



ment of a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1885, 

 to consider " 7vheiher, by the establishment of a Forest School, or 

 otherwise, our ivoodlands could be rendered more remunerative^ 



The Report of this Committee (1887) was given in full in 

 the Society's Transactions (1888), and all that need here be 

 remarked is that it thought the management of our woodlands 

 might be much improved; "that the establishment of forest 

 schools, or, at any rate, of some organised system of forest 

 instruction, would be very desirable; . . . that the establishment 

 of a Forest Board would be a wise step ; and . , . that, apart 

 from any immediate pecuniary benefits, there would be consider- 

 able social and economical advantages in an extensive system of 

 planting in many parts of the kingdom, especially on the west 

 side of Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland." 



These recommendations were, to a slight extent, given effect 

 to, by power being conveyed, under the Board of Agriculture 

 Act of 1889, to the Board to undertake the collection of statistics 

 relating to Forestry ; to aid any system of lectures or instruction 

 connected with Forestry; to inspect and report on any examina- 

 tions in Forestry ; and to make or assist in inquiries, experiments, 

 and research for the purpose of promoting Forestry. But 

 these powers were limited, and when interrogated on the 

 subject in Parliament on 23rd March 1891, the President of the 

 Board of Agriculture intimated that he had " no power of giving 

 effect directly to the recommendations of the Select Committee, 

 either as regards the establishment of a school or schools of 

 Forestry or the creation of a Board of Forestry." Under such 

 powers as were conferred, however, the Board of Agriculture 

 has, since 1891, paid ;^ioo a year towards the Lectureship in 

 Forestry instituted (in 1889) at Edinburgh University, and jQzt^o 

 a year as one-half of the salary of the Professor of Agriculture 

 and Forestry at the Durham College of Science (founded at 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1891), and, since 1892, ;^i5o a year towards 

 the free instruction of foresters and gardeners at the Royal 

 Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and similar aid towards instruction 

 at the Glasgow Technical Institute in the West of Scotland. 



The Select Committee on Forestry had, in their Report of 1887, 

 thought it right to call attention to the "unskilled management" 

 of the Crown woodlands generally, and " the present unsatis- 

 factory condition of the New Forest " in particular, owing to the 

 Act of 1877. Accordingly, another Select Parliamentary Com- 



