THE CONFEREN'CE AND DINNER. 207 



ally. I do hope, as Mr Gammell has said, and as I endeavoured 

 to say this afternoon, that we shall slowly and surely build up a 

 greater interest in both Houses in this great subject of forestry. 

 Nothing has impressed me more, and I feel, with proper and 

 careful presentation of the facts, nothing will in the future 

 impress the general public more than the words which have 

 fallen from our distinguished visitors to-day. The general public 

 is quite accustomed to hear what I might almost describe as the 

 firebrands who go about the country and try to stimulate interest 

 in both Houses on this particular subject, and because they are 

 always on the one subject are sometimes regarded as cranks. 

 These people who look upon the efforts of the advocates of 

 afforestation as the work of cranks will receive rather a shock 

 when they find that distinguished representatives from the whole 

 Continent of Europe come here and tell us our soil is magnifi- 

 cent — which we know — and tell us our climate is first-rate — 

 which we very much doubt — and tell us that the growth of our 

 trees is even quicker than what obtains in many suitable soils 

 abroad. This re-echoes exactly what we have been told in the 

 past by Sir William Schlich and others, who tell us that the 

 increment of our trees in certain parts of Scotland undoubtedly 

 passes what they have met with abroad. When we have these 

 facts presented to us, and when we know the population is 

 drifting more and more rapidly into the towns, and the subject of 

 rural depopulation is a really live subject which every Scotsman 

 who calls himself a Scotsman wishes to face, I am sure, armed 

 with these facts and the remarks of experts from all over the 

 Continent of Europe, we can place with even more resolution 

 than before the facts of our case before all political parties. I 

 believe the strength of the movement is not going to lie to any 

 great extent with people like myself, who have the misfortune to 

 possess a great extent of territory, but its strength will come from 

 you gentlemen who have looked at this matter closely, and have 

 a greater knowledge than any of us can pretend to have. If each 

 one, in his own sphere of action, puts the facts forward and tells 

 what he believes to be the possibilities of forestry, not for any 

 particular rank, but for the general public in the country, then 

 when the time for action comes we may have the backing of the 

 country behind us as we must eventually have. I thank you for 

 drinking the health of the Houses of Parliament, and for the 

 kind way Mr Gammell proposed the toast." 



