4 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
very good examples of this on the Fairburn estates), rendering 
valuable shelter to stock, thereby increasing the bulk of produce 
in a given time by about 30 percent. This is already so well 
known, that further example or reference is not required here. 
Apart from this view of the case, however, the increased area of 
woodland would give necessarily a large increase of work to that 
class—the crofters—who most require it, and who, as a rule, reside 
in the districts where such operations require to be most exten- 
sively carried out. Such increase would be of great advantage to 
the public at large, to the proprietors of the land, and to posterity 
—to the latter by retaining a large amount of the money sent out 
of the country to purchase that which we could produce for our- 
selves, and in many cases of a superior quality to that imported 
as “seconds” and “thirds,” the latter of which forms the greater 
bulk of our timber imports; and if you plant the 8,000,000 acres 
you find employment for 40,000 individuals. 
In conclusion, it may be observed that the areas are dealt with, 
in the Returns of the Board of Trade and by the Ordnance Survey, 
in such a manner as to fully account for every acre under its 
different heading, with the exception of those parts of the Ross- 
shire, Inverness, and Perthshire Highlands where sheep are 
allowed to roam at large on the most barren portions of the 
mountains. This is not only a loss to the stockmaster, but to the 
country, because, under such circumstances, the production of 
good mutton is limited by the exertion the animal has to put 
forth in order to obtain its living. The owners of such stock 
are, of course, not the least anxious to fatten it, because, they say, 
it pays them much better to breed than feed. This is the case 
under the present condition of the pastures, while, if large areas 
were planted, the result would naturally be different and better ; 
besides creating employment for a large number of people. 
“Men constitute the wealth of nations” if industrious, but the 
nation must produce the raw material, or pay smartly for finding 
it elsewhere. 
Gentlemen, if what I have stated to you will lead to further 
inquiry and action on the part of those who should be most 
interested, the landlords and the public, I shall not have spoken 
in vain. 
