32 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



purchase home wood instead of foreign wood. As regards pit- 

 props we cannot compete at the present time for straightness 

 and cleanness, but we really have not tried in this country to 

 grow timber so very extensively. I think if we tried it here 

 we would be able to beat any Scandinavian country in that 

 respect." 



Mr George P>aser said : — " Mr President, I should like to 

 support the view that we should try to extend education in 

 forestry. All the members of this Society got a book written 

 by yourself, which I think is a forerunner of a great future in 

 educational matters in forestry. Mr Hamilton, who was the 

 pioneer in the suggestion that a book should be written, got 

 the idea from seeing children working in the nursery at Hair- 

 myres. They were consumptive children, and the resultant 

 benefit to them was unspeakable. They were expert at 

 lining out trees. I think a time has come when some step 

 should be taken in pioneer work for education in forestry. I 

 would suggest that now that everybody interested in national 

 welfare is approaching the powers that be, a deputation should 

 go from this Society to the Secretary for Scotland. Besides 

 the benefit to children we ought not to forget the heroes who have 

 served us at the front. It may be said that they will not stick to 

 forestry, but forestry would probably do for them what no other 

 occupation can do. I am speaking from experience with over 

 thirty discharged men we have had at Hairmyres. We have 

 only one left out of these thirty, the others have all been able 

 to go back to their own vocation, or have taken up other work 

 which was more remunerative than forestry is at the present 

 time. Special benefit was got by men who were gassed. We 

 have also had consumptive patients working at forestry, and 

 the result has been that they are serving their king and country 

 to-day. Education intended to create an interest and love for 

 tree life and outdoor life generally is commendable. It is also 

 commendable from a public health point of view. As regards 

 Miss Macdonald's statement about the capacity of ladies for 

 taking up this work, we have seven ladies working in the 

 nursery at Hairmyres. Some of them are teachers who are 

 taking this up as the result of reading your book. 



" We should urge upon the Government the need of preventing 

 waste among plants which are suitable for planting out in the 

 nurseries in Scotland. So far as our afforestation scheme of the 



