6 ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, NOVEMBER G, 1872. 



villages, to frame leases with native chiefs, to establish and inspect 

 depots for timber, to supply the Indian Navy, the gun-carriage 

 factory, and various public works, and to arrange annual auctions for 

 the general wants of the country* 



How different is the experience of foresters in Britain! They 

 are generally engaged, not in the husbanding of state forests, where the 

 good of generations yet to come guides your measures, but in forests 

 belonging to private individuals, where the chief objects are, to meet 

 the current demand for estate purposes, and to yield a good annual 

 revenue. "Woodlands in private hands are everywhere managed on 

 the same economical principles as otber possessions, and many pro- 

 prietors will always sell their woods, unless they believe that it is 

 for their pecuniary interest to preserve them. 



In no other country of the world is there such careful arbori- 

 culture as in Britain; and it is in Scotland that many of the most 

 beautiful and extensive British forest plantations have been formed 

 (such as the famous larch plantations in Blair Athol, superintended 

 by Mr Macgregor). But most valuable as your training bas been for 

 tbe exercise of your calling in Scotland, it can hardly be denied that 

 a training on a more comprehensive system tban is possible under 

 the peculiar circumstances of our little island, to which I have 

 already alluded, would be valuable for a larger sphere of action. In 

 this I think you will agree with me, although the conditions of my 

 connection with forest management (to which I am indebted for this 

 opportunity of addressing you) are such as naturally predispose me 

 in some measure to look for guidance, where the conservation of 

 forests has been the result of circumstances similar to those of 

 India, and the management of which has grown up under like con- 

 ditions. 



But should I fail to carry your assent to this opinion, you will, I 

 am assured, bear with me, when I say that, considering the responsi- 

 bilities placed upon a state forest department, we cannot make too 

 sure that the agents employed in it have the widest opportunities 

 possible of seeing forest operations conducted on a large scale, and 

 that their training is arranged so as to take full advantage of the 

 ripe experience available in those countries in which state forests 

 have long existed, as well as of that skill and experience which is 

 to be found at our own doors. 



A main essential in forest operations is economy, and it is on the 

 magnitude of the scale on which operations are conducted that 

 economic results largely depend. The adaptation of means to ends is 



