THE CONFERENCK AND DINNER. 213 



tion at Inverliever, what do we find ? After an occupation of 

 seven years in a district singularly fitted for the creation of 

 small holdings, where scores of acres of old arable land at a low 

 elevation are to be found, on a property administered by the 

 State, not one single small holding has been formed. Instead 

 of attaching to the soil good houses and small holdings for 

 foresters and their families, the State has deliberately built 

 bothies and employs casual labour. We are entitled to 

 inquire what the Board of Agriculture has been about. It 

 has been busy creating small holdings in other parts of Scotland, 

 often where outside employment for the holders is very 

 problematic. Here, where the conditions are admirable, and 

 where regular employment for eighteen or twenty workmen is 

 ensured, not a thing has been done. Gentlemen, I do not 

 seek to lay the blame for these things at any man's door. I 

 have little doubt that it is the system that is to blame more 

 than any one individual. But what shall we say of the 

 system under which such absurdities are possible? 



" Let us turn now from these disheartening failures to our own 

 work and ideals. This afternoon we have heard from men 

 peculiarly qualified to give opinions of weight that silviculture in 

 Scotland is an asset to national prosperity which has been little 

 developed. For its proper development three things are needed — 

 the knowledge to plan, the skill to execute and the money to pay. 

 Without the last, the two first can effect little or nothing. With 

 regard to knowledge, Scotland has been striving for some time 

 past to qualify herself, and it must be owned with regret that 

 at the present moment the supply of knowledge is fully equal 

 to the demand — indeed we have lost from Scotland highly 

 trained men, because we have not the appointments to off"er 

 which would enable us to keep them. Skill is relatively better 

 off, being kept alive in existing woods, but, with an increased 

 area under wood, the demand for skilled men would be much 

 greater than it is to-day. Money or capital is really the difficulty. 

 Forestry is no less unsuitable as an investment for mortal men 

 than agriculture would be if it took one hundred years to grow 

 a turnip. Limited liability companies, even if they have a 

 potential and corporate immortality, are composed of mortal 

 shareholders not wholly indifferent to dividends. We cannot 

 look to private or corporate parties to provide funds for this 

 development. It is the State which can take the long views which 



