40 REVIVAL OF FORESTRY 



woodland surroundings, and it would have made a 

 magnificent centre as a British and Empire Forestry 

 School. 



But although as a Forestry Training Centre, pro- 

 perly equipped as it was with teachers capable of 

 imparting a sound knowledge of scientific forestry, 

 it had no effect in affording this training to British 

 foresters (owing to the considerable fees payable 

 by students), it would be unfair to assume that 

 Cooper's Hill, through its professors, had no effect on 

 British forestry during the period here under review. 

 Professor Sir William Schlich and his assistant, the 

 late Professor W. R. Fisher, were untiring in their 

 efforts in the cause of British forestry. Nor were 

 their efforts without some meed of success ior they 

 obtained the ear of the Government (even if that ear 

 only led to more Committees and Commissions that 

 was no fault of theirs) and the ear of some of the 

 more advanced amongst the proprietors. What man 

 could do, Sir William Schlich has done spent almost 

 half a lifetime in doing. Not his the blame that the 

 war found us with so little progress made. But was 

 not the foundation laid ? Time will show, but I hope 

 to be able to indicate in subsequent pages that it was. 

 To come back to our Committees. In 1902-03 

 a Departmental Committee of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, commissioned for the purpose, issued a 

 report -the third in eight years. This Committee 

 did not take up any afforestation schemes, but 

 devoted itself to a consideration of education in 

 forestry and made most valuable recommendations 

 on the subject, which had as a result the appoint- 



