"The Society, in common with the greater part of the world, 

 has grave cause to complain of the war which has been forced 

 upon our country by the aggression of Germany. We regret it 

 all the more because the Society has had pleasant relations with 

 German foresters in the past, and because Scottish arboriculture 

 owes a great deal to German research and German practice. 



" The war comes as an unwelcome disturbance of all peaceful 

 economic progress, and it is only too likely to limit and hamper 

 the progress of silviculture by diverting public expenditure into 

 other channels. It is true that in the case of silviculture in 

 Scotland this expenditure has hitherto been rather a matter of 

 hope than of reality. 



"The Society will no doubt continue to press the claims of 

 afforestation in Scotland, for which an unanswerable case has 

 been established by the unanimous testimony of our foreign and 

 colonial guests in 1914." 



Minutes. 



The Minutes of the General Meeting, held at Hawick on i6th 

 June last, which had been printed and circulated with the 

 Transactions, were held as read and adopted. 



Report by the Council. 

 The Council's Report was as follows : — 



The Society's Diamond Jubilee year — 1914 — will be a memor- 

 able one to the members, not only as arboriculturists but as citizens 

 of this great empire. The celebration of the Society's sixtieth 

 anniversary had just been successfully concluded, when the 

 great war broke out, which has now been raging for six months 

 with, unhappily, little prospect of a speedy settlement. 



Membership. 



With such a war in progress, almost at our doors, it was only 

 to be expected that many members of this Society would take 

 their places amongst the active defenders of our country, and 

 that casualties would be sustained. It is not possible to say 

 accurately what those casualties have been up to the present 

 time, but the following at least are known to have fallen : — 

 Sir Archibald Gibson Craig, Bart., of Riccarton ; Colonel Aymer 

 Maxwell, Yr. of Monreith ; and the Master of Kinnaird. As you 

 are aware, a Roll of Honour is being prepared which will be 

 published in the Transactions. 



In addition to these war casualties the usual list of deaths 

 has to be recorded. This list includes the following names : — 

 Sir John Ramsden, the father of the Society ; the Duke of 

 Buccleuch ; the Earl of Stair; Sir John Macpherson Grant; 

 Major Stirling of Fairburn ; Colonel Campbell Walker; Mr 



