TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



ROYAL SCOTTISH AEBORICULTUEAL SOCIETY 



I. A Development Grant. 



The following letter, dated loth September 1910, has been 

 addressed by the President of the Society to the members of the 

 Development Commission : — 



My Lords and Gentlemen, 



The Council of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society ventures to approach you with some practical 

 suggestions for the expenditure of such portion of the 

 Development Grant as may be allotted to Forestry in 

 Scotland. 



Our Society has over 1300 members, and includes practically 

 every one who takes an active part in the practice and teaching 

 of Silviculture north of the Tweed, besides many members from 

 England, Ireland, and Wales. The scheme which the Council 

 ventures to submit is the result of mature deliberation. It 

 has been repeatedly urged upon the Government, and was 

 actually adopted by the present Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 in the speech with which he introduced the Budget of 1909. 



We should have approached the Commissioners earlier, but 

 for the following reason : We have been urging on the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer the need of appointing at once a recognised 

 authority, such as exists in every other civilised country, to 

 take charge of the interests of Forestry in Great Britain. If 

 a Board of Forestry were appointed now, its first duty would 

 be to frame a scheme for the Development Commissioners, and 

 we have been unwilling to take any step which might anticipate 

 or embarrass the initiative of such a Board. It appears, 

 however, that the Government hesitates to appoint any 

 responsible authority. We therefore feel that the time has 

 arrived when we have no choice but to submit the outline of a 

 scheme, since it is more particularly the duty and interest of 



VOL. XXIV. PART I. A 



