DEPUTATION TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. 323 
XXXI. Deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
By the PRESIDENT. 
On 30th March 1906 a deputation of members appointed by 
the Royal Scottish and the Royal English Arboricultural 
Societies waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer at his 
room in the House of Commons. The members of the deputa- 
tion were as follows:—From the Royal Scottish Arboricultural 
Society—Lord Lovat, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Mr Munro Ferguson, 
and Mr Steuart Fothringham; and from the Royal English 
Arboricultural Society—Professor Fisher, Mr Elwes, Mr Marshall, 
Mr Havelock, and Mr Davidson. Mr Fraser Story, from the 
Bangor University, was also present. 
Before meeting the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the members 
of the deputation met at Mr Munro Ferguson’s house, and decided 
that the principal points to bring to the notice of the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer were—(a) the necessity for a responsible 
authority to deal with forestry, either as a separate Board of 
Forestry, or as a special department under the Board of 
Agriculture; (4) the carrying out of the recommendations of the 
Departmental Committee of 1902; and (c) the provision of 
forest areas in England and Scotland for instruction and experi- 
mental purposes. 
The deputation was introduced by Sir Herbert Maxwell, who 
then spoke, and began by drawing attention to the deficiency 
and diminishing supplies of timber in Great Britain and other 
countries, and to the serious effect this deficiency would have 
on many trades, unless steps were taken to increase the supplies. 
The deficiency was shown by the large and increasing imports 
of timber into this country, while even in France and Germany, 
where there were large and well-managed forests, the supply 
was not equal to the demand. If good methods of forestry were 
introduced and carried out in Great Britain, as was done under 
Government auspices in most of the other countries in Europe, 
a considerable part of this deficiency might be made good by 
home-grown timber; for the soil and climate of these islands 
was as suitable for timber-growing as were those of other 
countries in Northern Europe, and no time was so favourable 
as the present for making a start in forestry on a large scale, 
as much land that was formerly valuable for grazing was now, 
