36 



him that the government were very favourably disposed 

 towards afforestation and intended to do far more for it than 

 any of their predecessors. They, however, proposed to appoint 

 a Committee of Enquiry on the work of the Commission before 

 committing themselves to further expenditure, and indicated 

 that if the Society wished to be represented on the Committee, 

 or to be heard before it, immediate action would be necessary. 

 On returning from London and reporting to the Committee they 

 appointed Mr G. U. Macdonald and himself as the Society's 

 representatives. These appointments were intimated at once 

 to the Secretary for Scotland, but they had never been called, 

 and so far as he was aware nothing had been done. He now 

 suggested that the Council be instructed to watch the position, 

 and to take what further action they deemed necessary. The 

 meeting approved of the report and remitted to the Council 

 accordingly. 



Mr James Watt, Carlisle, said that he did not think Mr 

 Adamson wished to attend the dinner because he might have 

 been asked to answer difficult questions. Mr Watt said he had 

 been asked to attend that meeting to plead on behalf of the 

 smaller proprietors for the support of the Society or the Com- 

 mission. Failing that, the government would be approached 

 and asked for assistance for the small and impoverished 

 owners. Many estates had been broken up, and smaller men 

 could not afford to plant although they wished to do so. 

 Their desire was that the paltry sum of j£2> P^'* acre, given 

 by the government — and which they were quite grateful for — 

 should be increased. They wanted a good deal more. The 

 Commission he said had over 400 nurseries throughout the 

 United Kingdom growing young plants. If that were the 

 case, the Commission should soon have all the plants 

 necessary to plant the whole of the United Kingdom. He 

 appealed to the Society to use its influence in support of 

 the smaller proprietors who could not speak for themselves. 



Mr Galloway said that Mr Watt had omitted to state what 

 he wanted the Society to do for small landowners. 



Mr Watt said that he wanted them to get a much larger 

 grant than ;£'^ an acre. 



A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Earl of 

 Moray for presiding, which concluded the business. 



