1 1 



selected various names not because the names were good but 

 because they were good men. In my case I think there is not 

 much wrong with the name, but I am rather doubtful about the 

 man and I can only assure you I will do my very best. I have 

 not, in one sense, since I belonged to the Society taken a very 

 great interest in its work, that is to say in its meetings, because 

 I have been very busy ; but that is not to say that I have not 

 been interested and have not benefited by your deliberations 

 here, and after all probably I was better employed carrying the 

 standard of planting, minding my own business, and doing 

 what I could in the interest of forestry in my own part of the 

 world. Certainly it cannot be said in regard to the estate I 

 come from that we belittle forestry. It is one of the biggest 

 estates in the country, and I think it has been literally kept on 

 its legs by forestry. I need not go into this point, but the most 

 flourishing part of it consists of a number of small farms with 

 the intermediate ground at the back planted. Well these 

 plantations not only kept the estate going but also the farms. 

 When they were planted it was suggested by the man who 

 planted them that the plantations would come in very handy 

 for the next war. He spoke more prophetically than he 

 imagined, because he was anticipating war with France, and he 

 was also anticipating that shipbuilding would be the same as 

 it was in his time and would consist in making wooden ships. 

 The wood, however, came in equally handy for the war with 

 those who were our Allies at that time. People ask, does it 

 pay to plant, is it worth while putting money into it? I have 

 not the slightest doubt that in the case of a big estate in the 

 Highlands it is the bounden duty of the proprietor to plant 

 whether it pays or not. It keeps employment going and it is 

 about the best bank that you could put your money into, with a 

 view to your descendants, who may or may not be good men, 

 because they cannot take it out. I am quite sure that it is better 

 to lose 3 per cent, at a job you understand than risk losing 20 or 

 30 per cent, in a job you do not, and even any loss you may 

 incur is likely to be less than that which would be incurred by 

 most proprietors if they dabbled in stocks and shares. So far 

 as this war is concerned the plantings of 150 years ago were of 

 immense value to the country. They were also the means of 

 saving the estate from being broken up for the payment of 

 death duties on the death of the proprietor During the war 



