THE CONFERENCE AND DINNER. l8l 



sure if there is one man whom we all wish to be with us if he 

 could, it is he. The next name is that of Mr R. H. Campbell, 

 Director of Forestry, Canada. Canada, though possessing 

 enormous resources in timber, has already decided to have a 

 forest service, which we have not yet discovered in Scotland. 

 Next there is the Right Honourable Sir Herbert E. Maxwell, 

 Bart, of Monreith. I am extremely sorry not to see him here 

 to-day, when we could have congratulated him personally, but 

 the honour which the Society has done him is, I am sure you will 

 agree, a very well-deserved honour. He has been one of the 

 pioneers in writing, speaking and lecturing on the subject of 

 afforestation. The last name, but by no means the least, is that 

 of Dr John Nisbet, Forestry Adviser to the Board of Agriculture 

 for Scotland, who, I think, by the very able books which he has 

 written on the subject, was the first man to arouse any very wide 

 spirit of interest in scientific silviculture in Scotland. I take it 

 you approve, by acclamation, of the election of these gentlemen 

 as Honorary Members. 



" Perhaps you will allow me, as an introduction to the Confer- 

 ence, to explain briefly the mind of the Council in arranging for 

 the celebration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of this Society. 



" When Foreign Governments, India and the Dominions had 

 consented that their Forest Administrations should be represented 

 at a silvicultural tour in Scotland, the Council had to consider 

 how the time available could best be spent with a view to the 

 attainment of a certain definite object. That object has been 

 two-fold, — first, to show our guests existing crops of trees in 

 Scotland, and, so far as our experience goes, the soil and situa- 

 tion most favourable to each species under local conditions. 

 Second, to show that there is a large extent of land, now bringing 

 in a very low return from grazing and shooting rents, which is 

 capable of growing as good crops of trees as any which have 

 been seen on our tour. 



" Probably the first half of our object has been attained more 

 completely than the second. Naturally, the greater part of our 

 time was spent in showing to our guests silvicultural results 

 already obtained — since, of course, they are the all-important 

 foundation on which a constructive policy must be based. For 

 that very reason the earlier part of our tour may have caused our 

 guests to form opinions altogether too favourable to the existing 

 state of silviculture in Scotland. Indeed, some of them said to 



