REPORT OF THE ANNUAL EXCURSION, AUGUST 1908. 73 



are feued or rented. The list will doubtless find a place among 

 the city records. 



The Scottish National Exhibition. — The exhibits in the 

 Society's pavilion, which are elsewhere described (see p. 77), 

 were first inspected, and the Members of the Society present 

 were thereafter entertained to luncheon by the Magistrates and 

 Town Council. Bailie Maxton, senior magistrate, presided over 

 a company of about one hundred. Loyal and other toasts 

 having been duly honoured, the party adjourned to the Concert 

 Hall, where the General Meeting was held, and Sir Herbert 

 Maxwell, Bart, read a paper (see p. i of the present issue) 

 on "The Forest Resources of the United Kingdom." In the 

 evening the Annual Excursion Dinner was held in the Carlton 

 Hotel, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Bart, President, being in the 

 chair. 



THIRD DAY. 



The itinerary included Craigmillar Castle, The Inch ; Messrs 

 Dicksons & Co.'s Royal Nurseries, Craigmillar; Melville; 

 Hawthornden ; Rosslyn ; and the Penicuik Estate. 



The Inch. — The party were conducted by Colonel Gordon 

 Gilmour to inspect the ruined Craigmillar Castle, and he then 

 led them to The Inch, where the gardens and some fine old 

 trees were seen, including an ash and two sycamores. Colonel 

 and Lady Susan Gilmour were thanked by Mr Buchanan on 

 behalf of the Society. 



The Royal Nurseries, Craigmillar. — The next visit was 

 to the well-known nurseries of Messrs Dicksons & Co., which 

 cover an area of 120 acres. Here the party were received 

 by Mr Massie and Mr Welsh, and taken over their numerous 

 beds and brakes of forest trees, ornamental trees, fruit trees, 

 and shrubs. Many of the practical operations of the nursery- 

 men's craft were demonstrated to the company, including the 

 budding of roses on stalks of briar and manetti. It was 

 noted that the area devoted to the cultivation of young forest 

 trees is very extensive, and that the quality of the forest stock 

 produced is maintained by a judicious alternation with agri- 

 cultural root crops. Messrs Dicksons then entertained their 

 guests to a sumptuous luncheon in a marquee pitched within 

 the nurseries. In replying to the toast of "The Firm," Mr 

 Massie stated that it had existed for 179 years. 



