REPORT OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. I 29 



advantage that this Society should be so well represented on the 

 Commission as it is, for one of the Commissioners for England, 

 Lord Clinton, is a member of this Society, and the Assistant 

 Commissioner for England and the Assistant Commissioner for 

 Ireland both happen to be Scotsmen, and I think both are 

 members of this Society also. So Scotland is quite well repre- 

 sented on the Commission, and no doubt the interests of Scotland 

 will be kept well to the fore by somebody amongst all this number. 

 When I spoke last year I ventured to make a small prophecy 

 which was not fulfilled, so I do not propose to make any more 

 prophecies. They are rather dangerous things. I said at that 

 time it was hoped the Act of Parliament would be very quickly 

 passed, and we would soon have the Commission at work. That 

 was in February, 1919. The Act of Parliament was not passed 

 till some time in August, and in order to carry out the Act it was 

 necessary to nominate Commissioners, and the Commissioners 

 were not absolutely appointed till about the end of November, 

 so there was nobody to carry out the Act, and the Commission 

 could only be said to have begun its work at that time two and 

 a half months ago. So the time has not been very great for 

 getting anything done. But a good deal has been done, because 

 the Interim Authority did a good deal of spade work, and got 

 things into such a position that the Commissioners were able to 

 start very quickly. I do not think I need put before you what 

 has been done in England, because that will, no doubt, be dealt 

 with by the English Commissioners. The fact is that until the 

 beginning of December the Commission were not in a position 

 to acquire or to rent any land. Certain preliminary arrange- 

 ments were made, but those could be carried no further. Still, 

 though nothing could be done until December, I believe we shall 

 get a few hundred acres planted this coming spring. The 

 negotiations for the purchase or hire of the land, by feuing or in 

 other ways, for starting State forests have been carried on in a 

 great many of the counties in Scotland — from Inverness-shire, 

 Aberdeenshire and Argyllshire, to Berwickshire and Roxburgh- 

 shire — and the Commission are in a position of having practically 

 concluded a bargain for some 16,000 acres of land, and further 

 negotiations are in active progress. The amount of preliminary 

 work to be done in preparing the nurseries for subsequent 

 plantings is very considerable, and the number of seedlings that 

 the Commission have got at the present moment in Scotland is 



