41 



resolution down on the Agenda paper which you have all seen, 

 and which it is to be hoped may offer an opportunity if anybody 

 has practical suggestions to make." 



The Development of Afforestation. 

 The Secretary then read the Resolution, as follows :— 

 "The Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society in General 

 Meeting assembled, while recognising that the first 

 duty of the Nation at this time is to do everything in 

 its power to bring the war to a speedy and successful 

 termination, respectfully points out that at the end of the 

 war a large number of soldiers who return may not be 

 able to resume their former occupations and may desire 

 to find outdoor employment and a comfortable home in 

 the country, which, under present circumstances, they 

 would not be able to do, and that Afforestation— with 

 which might be advantageously combined Small Holdmgs 

 and other Rural Industries— if carried out on a consider- 

 able scale in various centres, would afford suitable 

 employment, under healthy conditions, for a large and 

 ever-increasing rural population. The Society, therefore, 

 without repeating the now familiar arguments in favour 

 of Afforestation, all of which have been greatly 

 strengthened by events since the war began, respectfully 

 draws the attention of the Government to the urgent need 

 of immediate preparation for the emergency referred to, 

 and suggests that the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, 

 as the body charged with the care of Forestry in this 

 country, should be authorised to prepare schemes of 

 Afforestation on the lines indicated, and should be 

 assured that adequate funds will be provided to put those 

 schemes into operation whenever the war is over, so as to 

 meet the needs of returning soldiers and others who desire 

 to settle upon the land." 

 The Chairman mentioned that letters had been received from 



the President and several members of the Society which, he 



thought, might be read. 



Colonel Stirling, President of the Society, in a letter addressed 



to the Secretary, and dated loth July, wrote as follows: — 



" I hope that the General Meeting will adopt the resolution. 



