THE HOME TIMBER TRADE OUTLOOK. I 47 



been able to retain its reputation is an undoubted fact. Seeing, 

 then, that we have the soil, the men, and the plant, the State 

 ought at once to commence some great national scheme of 

 afforestation. That a timber famine is staring us in the face, 

 so far as this country is concerned, goes without saying, and, 

 gentlemen, what is a country without timber? It is one of its 

 most valuable assets, and I cannot see why a vast amount of the 

 wood imported into this country should not be grown at home. 

 It is a pity that the motto of our Society, " When ye hae 

 naething else to do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree : it will be 

 growing when ye're sleeping," had not been adopted in this 

 country when the laird o' Dumbiedykes uttered those memorable 

 words to his son. We may, I suppose, congratulate ourselves 

 on the fact that the Government have at last shown some signs 

 of stirring in forestry matters. The Development scheme is, 

 I understand, fairly under way ; and it is of interest to note 

 that within the past few days the Development Commission 

 have adopted the report from their Forestry Committee, which 

 favours the appointment of a Committee in Scotland to carry 

 out further investigations regarding Scottish forestry. It 

 has been suggested that the Committee might comprise a 

 representative of each of the following bodies and classes : 

 Scotch Education Department, Royal Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society, landowners, working foresters and factors. 



In connection with the recent election, Mr Munro Ferguson, 

 speaking at a meeting at Bowhill, said that the Highlands could 

 be made an industrial centre as well as a sporting centre. When 

 he was member for Ross-shire, he had a feeling that the best way to 

 make the Highlands a productive industrial centre was by means 

 of afforestation. Mr Lloyd George had taken up the matter 

 along with him, and helped him. Afforestation would not only 

 double the population of the Highlands, but would make a new 

 industry in the country. The trees would take a hundred years 

 to grow, and they would require a management that never died. 



If the State is, however, so particularly anxious to encourage 

 afforestation, it certainly employs peculiar methods. A case 

 which came under my immediate notice, may very well be 

 quoted. 



On an estate on Donside, about thirty miles from a railway 

 station, nineteen acres of land were planted up, which the 

 Assessor promptly assessed at ^12. The proprietor had every 



