8 



Promised Department of Forestry. 

 Development of Forestry. 



Ill their last report the Council pointed out that no 

 Demonstration Forest had yet been purchased, and the promised 

 Department of Forestry had not been created. At that meeting 

 Mr Sutherland made a statement on behalf of the Board of 

 Agriculture, in which he said that the Board's Advisory 

 Committee was searching for a Demonstration Area ; that Dr 

 Nisbet had been appointed Forestry Adviser to the Board ; that 

 the Board proposed to appoint Advisory and Research Officers 

 and Correspondents and to continue a Survey they had begun, 

 and to create a seed-testing establishment. As no further 

 progress had been reported, the Council, on 12th May, addressed 

 the letter to the Board of Agriculture, which was printed in the 

 July Transactions of last year. It will be remembered that that 

 letter began by expressing regret that no proposals for carrying 

 out a considerable scheme of afforestation had been put forward 

 by the Board ; that Scotland had so far received a most 

 inadequate share of money from the Development Fund as 

 compared with England and Ireland ; and went on to urge the 

 Board to encourage a large scheme in preference to smaller 

 ones, and to point out the steps which the Board might take 

 towards this end. The letter concluded by offering such 

 assistance as the Society was able to give. When this letter 

 was under the consideration of the Council, the Secretary 

 pointed out that the difficulty of promoting private schemes of 

 afforestation by Government money lay in the fact that the 

 Development Commissioners had no power under their Act to 

 advance money to private owners. He said he had submitted 

 to the Development Commissioners the constitution of a small 

 non-profit company which was intended to overcome this 

 difficulty, and to provide the machinery for carrying out any 

 schemes of development which the Commissioners could 

 advance money to promote. This draft had been submitted by 

 the Commissioners to the Board of Agriculture who have 

 expressed general approval of it, and he was then hopeful that 

 it would be also approved by the Treasury. He pointed out 

 that while the Council and the Society would incur no responsi- 

 bility in connection with the Company, it was desirable that it 

 should be worked in close association with the Society. The 

 Council gave their general approval to the scheme. At the 

 General Meeting in Paisley, the President mentioned that no 

 reply had been received from the Board since the Society's 

 letter, and he again urged the need for a large scheme by joint 

 action of proprietors and the State. On loth October a reply 

 was received from the Board of Agriculture to the effect that 

 until the Advisory Committee's report was considered, and the 

 Board had been able to make arrangements for the appointment 



