A NATIONAL WORK 19 



The Development Commission was appointed in May 

 1910. During the six years of its existence it has en- 

 thusiastically taken up the forestry question. Briefly, 

 at the outbreak of the war as a result of the work of 

 the Commission the position was as follows. In England 

 the counties had been formed into natural groups and 

 a Forestry Adviser been appointed to each group, the 

 salaries of these officers being paid from a grant from 

 the funds at the disposal of the Commission. In 

 Scotland an Advisory Officer to the Board of Agricul- 

 ture had been appointed and Advisory Officers were 

 being appointed in the west and east of the country. 

 The Forestry Advisers in both England and Scotland 

 were attached to either the University or Agricultural 

 College existing in their centre. But the Commis- 

 sioners had gone farther than this. They recognised 

 that if the large areas of waste land existing in this 

 country, eminently suitable for afforestation, were to 

 be planted up, it was no longer possible to expect 

 private proprietors to be able to find the necessary 

 money. In fact, they realised that the work had now 

 become a national one. The problem was admittedly 

 difficult, but after careful inquiry into the various 

 conflicting interests they offered a solution on the 

 following lines. 



The owners of the greater bulk of the afforestable 

 land in blocks of size suitable to achieve the aims of 

 commercial forestry consisted of large City Corpora- 

 tions, Water Trusts of the great cities and towns 

 possessing large catchment areas, and large landed 

 proprietors. 



To such bodies and proprietors the Commissioners 



