KEPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FORESTRY. 113 



whose mistakes may not be found out for thirty years." — " What 

 kind of school would you suggest ? " " Something like what a 

 number of the witnesses have been speaking about; I would suggest 

 a school in Scotland with an extent of 4000 or 5000 acres." — 

 " What sort of fees would you charge ] " " If it were such a school 

 that gentlemen's sons might go there, I think they ought to pay a 

 fee, and perhaps agents, but working foresters would be hardly able 

 to afford it."' — "In anything that was established, there would re- 

 quire to be a free class which working foresters could attend ? " 

 " I think so, for poor young men who could not afford to pay a fee." 



" Is there much waste land in Perthshire which could be profit- 

 ably planted?" "Very much." — "How much do you think 1" 

 "I have no idea." — "Is there much difficulty in getting your 

 timber to the market 1 " " No. The Highland Eailway has been 

 of great benefit to the district." — "Are the rates high?" "The 

 wood merchants complain about them. We sell to the wood 

 merchants ; we are not so immediately connected with the rates as 

 they are, but we hear the wood merchants complain very much 

 about them." — " Do you sell your timber direct to the wood 

 merchants 1" " We sell it direct to the wood merchants. When 

 it is not a clean cut, we cut out such trees as require to be cut 

 and measure them ; they are sold by the foot at three different 

 prices." — " Is all your timber managed on commercial prin- 

 ciples "?" "Except what is used for estate purposes." — "Is all 

 the timber that is used for improvements in the estate home- 

 grown timber?" "Generally." — "Is there any foreign timber 

 used in houses ? " " Yes. If there is a great hurry to get 

 a shooting lodge put in order, or a farmhouse, they sometimes 

 take dry foreign timber, but where there is time it is generally 

 home timber that is used." — " Do you think home timber might be 

 used for building purposes? " " Yes, there is no doubt of it," — 

 " You do not think enough trouble is taken to find markets for 

 home-grown timber ? " " The only trouble taken is to advertise it 

 to the wood merchants; we leave them to find the markets." — 

 " What reasons do the wood merchants give for not taking home 

 timber?" " None. They would take it if they had a market for 

 it ; one reason is the depression of trade. The principal market we 

 used to have for home timber was the coal and iron pits." 



" Is the growth of timber much hampered by game in Perth- 

 shire ? " "A good deal." — " By what kind of game chiefly ? " "I 

 would begin at capercailzie, they destroy the tops of the Scots firs ; 



VOL. XII.. PART I. H 



