DISCUSSION ON REPORT OF FORESTRY SUB-COMMITTEE. I 29 



" It is easy to see the difference between the well-wooded 

 valleys of the Spey, Don, Dee, and Tay and the bare and 

 deserted condition of other valleys in Scotland that have not 

 been planted, and when considering this difference of appearance 

 please pause and think what a difference could be brought 

 about by a system of planting such as is here recommended ; 

 the bare and deserted valleys would become clothed and 

 inhabited, and would more resemble the more fortunate valleys 

 where planting has been carried on in the past. Time does not 

 permit of enlarging on this topic, but there is no doubt that an 

 increase in the population and the productive possibilities of 

 these valleys would be followed by an improvement in the 

 means of transport and communication, roads, light railways, 

 and even heavy railways being made to supply the needs of 

 these districts that are at present undeveloped." 



Mr A. D. Richardson, speaking on Education and the 

 Training of Foresters, said : — " I am not an authority on 

 education, nor do I profess to be an expert in any branch 

 of the subject. I appear here merely as one who can lay 

 claim to some acquaintance with the requirements of the 

 practical forester in the way of technical instruction, and it 

 is to that aspect of the question that I propose in the main 

 to confine my remarks. 



"When I joined this Society forty-five years ago, I was an 

 apprentice forester. At that time the teaching of technical 

 subjects in the rural districts was non-existent, and those of us 

 who were able to acquire any knowledge of this sort had to 

 acquire it by means of self-instruction. Since then education 

 has made great strides in this and in other ways, and immense 

 sums of money have been spent upon it ; but when I look back 

 over those forty-five years I must say that, with the exception 

 of the single instance to which I shall refer immediately, I can 

 find very little evidence of any provision in the way of technical 

 instruction for the working forester in Scotland, and I think it 

 may be truly said that in this respect he is now in practically 

 the same position he was in fifty years ago. In recent years 

 large sums have been spent on forestry education, but, generally 

 speaking, the machinery which has been provided for this 

 purpose is almost entirely outwith the reach of the practical 

 man. He cannot take advantage of the instruction provided 

 by the universities and colleges because, for one thing, he has 



