PRESIDENTS ADDRESS AND DISCUSSION. 99 



some adequate method of mitigating or eradicating this wood- 

 land scourge. 



"To come now to other questions closely related to the 

 regeneration and formation of plantations, it would, I am sure, 

 be worth our while to consider and discuss the question of the 

 supply and origin of seed. 



"There has been a marked falling-off in the supply of seed 

 from certain parts of the Continent during the last two years, 

 and, apart from the case of exotics which do not produce seed 

 abundantly in this country (Tyrolese larch, Abies pectinata, 

 Austrian and Corsican pine), this may turn out to be an 

 advantage if it results in our relying more on our home supplies. 

 Fortunately the home production of seed is ample, in the case 

 of the commoner species, to meet our requirements fully, but 

 we must pay more attention to collecting and extracting our 

 harvests of home seed than has been done in the past. We 

 practically allow home seed to go to waste (with some isolated 

 exceptions), and, while doing so, we pay for imported foreign 

 seed ; but this, though a reason, and it may be a small one, 

 for developing a home seed industry, is by no means the 

 principal one. The importance of cultivating only trees of a 

 good strain, race, and type is enormous. Botanists, and here 

 I refer to the systematist, recognise species and varieties, but 

 no matter how minute the distinction or division may be from 

 the systematist's point of view, there exist, undoubtedly, 

 physiological strains or races among individuals which are only 

 recognised by the cultivator. I feel tempted to go further into 

 this fascinating and important question, but that would lead 

 away from the immediate object in view. All good foresters 

 know that in the case of the Scots pine, for example, there are 

 many types to be found in various parts of Europe, and by 

 long continued importation of seed and seedlings we have, in 

 this country, a very heterogenous collection of types of the 

 species, good, bad, and absolutely worthless. I need only 

 recall the demonstration given to members of our Society, 

 on the occasion of their visit to the Experimental Forest Garden 

 at Zurich in 1913, which showed the enormous difference in 

 the growth of larch raised from seed from various parts of 

 Switzerland and other parts of the Continent. (Incidentally, 

 those who saw the trees will recall that the plants from Scottish 

 seed were easily first.) 



