116 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, NOVEMBER 7, 1873. 



For some years the income was extremely small. The following table, 

 compiled from the records, shows the receipts since 1858 : — 



There is reason to hope that, with growing popularity and an 

 increasing number of members, the income will now steadily rise, 

 as the funds are still inadequate to meet many desirable objects 

 connected with our Society, such as the wider circidation of our Pro- 

 ceedings, the formation of a library, and grants for scientific inquiry. 



The examination of our printed Transactions proves that a con- 

 siderable change is taking place in the subjects to which our 

 attention is directed. During the first four years I find that out 

 of 25 papers and reports the great majority were on purely prac- 

 tical subjects connected with the routine duty of a British forester, 

 such as drainage, pruning, thinning, fencing, and the like ; but a 

 wider scope has lately been given to our efforts, and papers have 

 been recorded on the influence of climate and soil, the growth 

 of various introduced trees, improved instruments, continental 

 systems, Indian forestry, and collateral branches of science. 



The estimation in which our Transactions are held may be in- 

 ferred from notices in journals, and from the following letter of Dr 

 Brandis, Inspector-General of Forests to the Government of India, 

 a very high authority on forest science and administration, with 

 whom I was long associated, and from whom I have often derived 

 valuable information : — 



" I write to express to you my obligations to the Scottish 

 Arboricultural Society for sending me their Transactions, Avhich 

 contain numerous most interesting and instructive papers. I beg to 

 suggest that copies of these volumes be sent to the leading 

 forest schools and associations of foresters on the Continent. I 

 feel assured they will be. received with pleasure, and this may 

 lead to a mutual interchange of publications. I shall be obliged 

 by your conveying to the Council the expression of my cordial 

 wishes for the prosperity of the Society." 



