TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



ROYAL SCOTTISH AEBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



12. Speeches by the Representatives of the Board of 

 Agriculture for Scotland and the Interim Forest 

 Authority at the Annual Meeting- of the Society, 

 held in Edinburgh on 8th February 1919. 



After the formal business had been disposed of, the President 

 called upon Colonel Sutherland, of the Board of Agriculture 

 for Scotland, to address the meeting. 



He said : — " My Lord Duke and gentlemen : It is not a very 

 easy matter for me to address you with all the care that is 

 necessary in official affairs, because I only arrived on Monday at 

 the office in Edinburgh, and I have not been able to pick up all 

 the strings of my work. I may say, however, that my friend 

 and colleague, Sir Robert Greig, has been doing the work in 

 my absence. I know it was a thankless task — it was a thank- 

 less one for me before I went away — but I have no doubt he 

 has given all the attention that was possible to it with the 

 assistance of my admirable colleague, Dr Borthwick. I think, 

 although there was some complaint to-day in the general report 

 of your Society, that probably there was a reason why you did 

 not hear of the schemes that were suggested by the Board. 

 One reason was that in the particular instance referred to — I 

 think it was the property of Lord Shaw — I was informed by my 

 colleague that the agreement had only just recently been 

 adjusted. It has been the object, I believe, of a good deal of 

 negotiation. I am not sure whether I will be at liberty to send 

 you the terms of that agreement or not, but if I can I certainly 

 will do so. I do not think in public transactions of the kind 

 there ought to be any particular secrecy. I think that the chief 

 point, and the point which involves us all as officials, is to gain 

 your confidence and to tell you what we are doing. 



VOL. XXXIII. PART II. H 



