THE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION AND FORESTRY. 1 9 



experiments conducted by means of sample plots, vested in and 

 under the control of the five institutions which are the centres of 

 educational and advisory work; and ^looo is required for 

 administrative expenses. Pending the establishment of a central 

 demonstration area, which will of course involve some recon- 

 sideration of the whole question of forestry education and 

 research, the arrangements outlined above will perhaps be 

 sufficient to meet immediate needs. 



In January the Commissioners received the first reports of the 

 Forestry Advisory Committee of the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, together with an application for an advance to give 

 effect to the Committee's recommendation of a preliminary 

 survey with a view to the creation of six or seven experimental 

 forests of some 5000 acres. The Commissioners are willing to 

 accept the proposal to acquire land for the formation of these 

 forests ; and at the end of the year were discussing with the 

 Board the practical steps to be taken for the purpose. They 

 had not received any application from the Board to give effect 

 to the other recommendations of the Committee, viz., those 

 relating to the utilisation of the Forest of Dean and adjoining 

 woodlands as a central demonstration area, and to the provision 

 or improvement of technical training for woodmen. Application 

 will presumably be made as soon as the Board have reached a 

 decision on these proposals. 



Apart from the schemes submitted by the Board, several local 

 authorities and teaching centres have applied for assistance to 

 promote forestry instruction and research. 



A grant of ^2500 has been made to the University of 

 Cambridge in aid of the erection and equipment of the Eastern 

 portion of the School of Forestry, and the Commissioners will be 

 prepared at a future date to recommend a further grant of 

 ^2000 if the accommodation provided by that part of the 

 School becomes insufficient. A grant of _;^iooo has been made 

 for a research laboratory at the Oxford School of Forestry ; and 

 a small grant of ^85 (in addition to ^200 previously sanctioned) 

 for the completion of the forestry museum and lecture room 

 in Chopwell Woods, used by the students of Armstrong College, 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



For various reasons (generally because the objects of the 

 scheme were already met so far as possible by previous grants 

 from the Development Fund), the Commissioners have been 

 unable to support applications from the University of Oxford, for 

 a grant of ^13,400 for research experiments, and advisory work ; 

 from the Town Council of Huddersfield, for ^300 per annum to 

 carry out a botanical survey of Yorkshire, which was represented 

 to be a necessary preliminary to any large scheme of afforesta- 

 tion in the county ; and from the University College of North 

 Wales, Bangor, for a sum not stated in aid of instruction and 

 research. 



