136 REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH COMMISSION 



of the years to help farmers to make the most of the soil and to 

 add to the wealth of the country. 



Education and researcli should not be confined to agriculture 

 proper. The education of farmers necessarily includes a certain 

 study of animal hygiene, and animal diseases ; and veterinary 

 instruction and veterinary research would naturally be embraced 

 in developments which would cover all branches of agricultural 

 and dairy science. 



2. Forestry 



Nor must the interests be overlooked of that great branch 

 which possesses such a vital interest for the owners of those 

 extensive tracts of poor land in the mountainous regions of 

 Scotland, which, infertile as they are and comparatively useless 

 for ordinary agricultural purposes, nevertheless contain a great 

 potential value as the subjects of afforestation. In nothing is 

 education more pressingly required than in modern systems of 

 forestry management, and thorough instruction in the most 

 approved methods of forest treatment could not fail to have far- 

 reaching effects on the general wealth and prosperity of the 

 country. 



3. Statistics and Intelligence 



A Statistics and Intelligence branch would naturally follow. 

 It would collect, collate, and publish statistics relating to agri- 

 culture in Scotland and in other countries. It would collect infor- 

 mation at home and abroad in connection with agricultural, 

 investigations, as well as information in connection with the 

 production, reaping, and marketing of crops. This information 

 would be embodied in Eeturns and Leaflets, and scattered 

 throughout the country. The Scotch farmer would thus be able 

 to keep well abreast of the times. 



4. Transit 



Farmers in these days would give much to have a Govern- 

 ment Department at their back to extract from the railway 

 companies concessions in regard to service and rates, and to 

 appear before the Railway and Canal Commissioners on their 

 behalf. The Department of Agriculture should stand by the 

 farmers and see that they obtain such terms from the railway 

 companies as are necessary for the development of their 

 trade. 



