2IO TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



enclosed, the less the outlay per acre for fencing, and if huts 

 or tents have to be built for workmen, it is better to do this for 

 10,000 or more acres than for smaller areas. 



" But the first question to be considered is, what is the actual 

 extent of ground available and suitable for the purpose aimed at ? 

 Perhaps the best way to obtain this information would be to 

 get a Government Commission appointed, as was done in the 

 case of deer forests, and let them ascertain and schedule the 

 different areas in the various Highland counties. Then, as 

 I said before, let full justice be given to the proprietors. Let 

 them sustain no injury or loss. If Government were willing in 

 this way to purchase and plant the suitable areas, it is possible, 

 and I think highly probable, that terms might be arranged in such 

 a fashion, that while proprietors would be benefited, there would 

 be no loss but a gain to the country and the Government. Apart 

 from the ultimate money value of the woods (and, I may add, 

 their artistic value in imparting an attractive character to the 

 landscape), the employment created by afforestation on an 

 adequate scale would be enormous. Hundreds of thousands of 

 pounds would be spent in planting, fencing, etc. ; and one can 

 hardly imagine the amount of money that would be circulated 

 when the crop came to be manufactured. It takes on an 

 average as much money to manufacture a lot of timber as it costs 

 to purchase it. In conclusion, I would say that I hope someone 

 here — yes, many a one — will live to see the day when vast tracts 

 of our Highland hill-sides will be clothed with thriving timber. 

 Then there would be employment for a large population resident 

 in the country, whose incomes would be secure, and whose con- 

 tentment, because of comfortable homes and steady wages, would 

 keep them at home in the Northern Counties, and prevent 

 emigration to overcrowded cities or to distant countries. I thank 

 you for the honour you have done me, and for the patient hearing 

 you have given to these remarks. I trust that this Inverness 

 Branch of the Society will be prosperous and useful. I was born 

 in Invernes.s-shire, and though my home for the past forty-nine 

 years has been chiefly in a neighbouring county, a large part of 

 my work has been in Inverness-shire. If my advice or assistance 

 can benefit this Branch in any way whatever, it is freely at your 

 service." 



A discussion followed, in which Brodie of Brodie, Mr Scott, 

 Darnaway, Mr Alexander Fraser, and others took part. 



