134 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH AREORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



with a staff attached to it, all working under a Department of 

 Forestry. If we go across to the sister Isle, we find that 

 they have a very strong Department and also an excellent staff. 

 There is no part of this United Kingdom more favourably 

 adapted for afforestation than our own. We may assure 

 ourselves that if forestry is to develop at all that it will be 

 on land that is suited to conifers in the first place, and of 

 such land we have abundance. I hope this resolution will 

 have a certain amount of effect with the powers that be, 

 coming as it does from this large and important Society, and 

 supported with all the force of this General Meeting, I think 

 that it may not be neglected. We are representative of all 

 who are interested in forestry, not only from the landlords' 

 point of view, not only from the factors' point of view, not 

 only from the foresters' point of view, but even from the 

 national point of view. We are quite representative of the 

 whole of Scotland, and I think it ought to go forth that we 

 make a decided call upon the powers that be to do something 

 now." 



Mr Adam Spiers, timber merchant, Edinburgh, said : — " As 

 one present at the deputation to the Secretary for Scotland, I 

 must say that we were very courteously received, but beyond 

 that we have got very little further. Is there any doubt in 

 the minds of our Parliamentarians that we can grow timber 

 in Scotland? It looks as if there were so. We in Scotland 

 have fed England with foresters for twenty or thirty years, 

 possibly longer ; we have done the same to Ireland ; we have 

 filled her teaching institutions with teachers, and here we are 

 in Scotland with every facility for growing timber of the best 

 quality and yet we are starved. We have got to take a lesson 

 from our friends over in Ireland, and make plenty of noise 

 until we get what we want. Until we have made up our minds 

 to that we will never get any further forward. As far as we 

 can see there is very little hope of getting any of this 

 Development Fund for forestry, at least for a considerable 

 time. The timber imported into this country has risen 20, 30, 

 ay 40 per cent, within the last very few years, and there is 

 no prospect of these prices ever going back. Why? It is 

 simply because the timber cannot be got. If a home timber 

 man was to contract for a supply of home timber, he would 

 have to run throughout the whole length and breadth of the 



