CONFERENCE ON FORESTRY EDUCATION. 55 



see other forestry equally instructive in its way. He thought that, 

 without extra expense, but with Colonel Bailey's consent, there 

 might be a great improvement in the education given in the 

 Edinburgh University. The forestry class was founded originally 

 as an addendum to the agricultural class, but he thought the 

 position forestry had now taken justified the forestry class being 

 more independent. This had a long winter course of nearly six 

 months. If young foresters were keen about their work, and 

 were able to afford it, one might get them to attend a summer 

 course of twelve weeks ; and if the teaching could be relegated 

 to the summer session, and two hours' lectures a day could be 

 given, they would then have in these twelve weeks, with five 

 lecture days a week, one hundred and twenty lectures, as compared 

 with eighty-eight at present. They did not require any National 

 Forestry School just yet — with several professors, who might 

 perhaps make their subjects unnecessarily complex and ex- 

 pansive. There were nominally nine excursions in the present 

 course at Edinburgh University, which were made to nurseries, 

 tan-yards, saw-mills, and woods. He did not think they could see 

 much of a wood on a short winter's day ; but in the long days 

 between ist May and 21st July there were very few parts of 

 Scotland in which there were not woods where you would be able 

 to see something, and where insect life and birds abounded : and 

 that was the very best time to seek object-lessons in the forest. 

 You could not well do it in the leafless winter season, when the trees 

 were asleep. A young forester might be able to afford the time 

 and money to go through a course from ist May to 2rst July in 

 the spring and summer, but it was a different thing when he was 

 called on to give up his time from the middle of October till the 

 end of March, or into April. It then meant that he had to give 

 up the autumn planting, and part of the spring planting, whereas 

 in summer he had usually much less to do. If Colonel Bailey, 

 the present holder of the lectureship, consented to it, the Society 

 might therefore well move the University to kindly relegate 

 the teaching of forestry to the summer session, or also provide 

 a summer course at the Botanic Garden and Arboretum. 



Dr Wilson, St Andrews, said neither Mr Gamble nor Dr Nisbet 

 had referred to degrees in forestry. One of the resolutions that 

 was put forward when they met with Dr Craik was that degrees 

 should be instituted in the University. The agricultural colleges 

 were quite impotent with regard to the institution of degrees. It 



