DISCUSSION ON FORESTRY IN SCOTLAND. 1 37 



resolution from the Northern Branch, which was dealt with by 

 the Council. I would like to take this opportunity of explaining 

 to you how that resolution was dealt with by the Council." 



The resolution was then read by the Secretary. It was in 

 the following terms : — 



1. "That in the interests of forestry in the country it is 



urgent that provision should be made without delay for 

 the formation of a separate Department in connection 

 with the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, charged 

 with the special duty of advancing the interests of 

 silviculture in Scotland." 



2. "That the meeting strongly advise the extreme advisa- 



bility, in the interests of the Highlands at large, of 

 considering from the point of view of forestry the value 

 of the lands offered by the Duke of Sutherland to His 

 Majesty's Government, in order to secure that the land 

 offered by his Grace should be reported upon with the 

 object of findmg out its value from a silvicultural point 

 of view ; and it was the view of the Branch that the 

 successful establishment of small holdings lay in the 

 provision of work for small holders, and that this work 

 could best be provided by the establishment of forests 

 either by the State or by private individuals with the 

 encouragement of the State." 



The Chairman said : — " That resolution embodies what has 

 been the view of the Society all along. Before receiving that 

 resolution they had already decided to take the action of 

 inquiring what the Board of Agriculture for Scotland had done, 

 or what it proposed to do, with regard to this offer of land by 

 the Duke of Sutherland ; and they also at the same time took the 

 opportunity of pointing out that if the survey which has been 

 constantly urged by this Society on the Government had been 

 carried out, that they would have had all the facts at their 

 disposal the moment such an offer came before them. They 

 would only have had to look at their map and see what waste 

 land there was. With regard to the survey, the reason they gave 

 against it was that such a survey would very speedily be out of 

 date. That may be true in certain respects, such as deer 

 forests, but we pointed out that such a map did not require 

 details. We required, in the first place, a map which would show 



VOL. XXVIII. PART II. K 



