4 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



deal in the last three years. Before the war a certain number 

 of people had come to see that a large increase of home-grown 

 timber was desirable ; to day every one recognises that it is an 

 absolute necessity. Afiforestation, when it begins, will be carried 

 out on a much larger scale than was contemplated a few years 

 ago; and the arrangements which might have sufficed a few 

 years ago are no longer sufficient for the needs of the time. 

 Forestry, in fact, has outgrown the Board of Agriculture, and 

 can provide work enough for a Department of its own. 



"Again, the State will be embarking upon an entirely new 

 business, a business of a very technical character. Everything 

 will depend upon the way in which the work is started. It can 

 only be started successfully under the guidance and super- 

 intendence of men who have made a study of the subject. It 

 is no use expecting forestry to thrive and develop when it only 

 receives the snippets of time that a President of the Board of 

 Agriculture can spare from more engrossing problems. It can 

 only develop into a real national industry if it is placed from 

 the first under the direction of men of the right training and 

 experience, men who can give their individual attention to the 

 subject, men who really comprehend both the results to be 

 aimed at and the methods by which those results can be 

 attained. 



"And there is still another reason for separating forestry 

 from the Board of Agriculture, and that is, as far as possible, 

 to keep it clear of politics. Agricultural policy has always had 

 to conform to political views. The head of the Board of 

 Agriculture is changed with every change of Government, and 

 has to adapt the policy of his Department to the views of his 

 party. Forestry has nothing to do with politics. It is not 

 political, but scientific. When once the politicians have decided 

 that national afforestation is necessary, when once they have 

 settled the extent to which it may be carried out, the rest should 

 be left to experts. I do not see why there should be any 

 special difficulty about it. At any rate, that is the only way to 

 ensure continuity of policy as well as scientific management; 

 and without continuity of policy and scientific management, 

 national afforestation is certain to prove a disappointment. 



"These are the reasons which induced the Council to recom- 

 mend strongly the creation of a separate Forestry Department. 

 They were persuaded, first, that the Board of Agriculture would 



