ADVERTISEMENT. 



IN the spring of 1877 I published a brochure entitled 

 The Schools of Forestry in Europe : a Plea for the Erection of a, 

 School of Forestry in connection with the Arboratum in Edinburgh. 

 It was addressed " To the Eight Honourable the Lord 

 Provost, the Magistrates, and Town Councillors of Edin- 

 burgh ; to the Office-Bearers of the Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society ; to the Promoters of the purchase of ground at 

 ^ Inverleith, to be transferred to Government, for the for- 

 mation of an Arborotum: and all others whom it may 





 concern. 



In this Plea I had occasion to state : 



" I went to the Cape of Good Hope to act as Colonial 

 Botanist in the beginning of 1863. On my arrrival I was 

 officially informed that the office had been created some 

 five years before with the two-fold object (1) of ascertain- 

 ing and making generally known the economic resources 

 of the Colony, as regards its indigenous vegetable produc- 

 tions, and its fitness for the growth of valuable exotic 

 trees and other plants ; and (2) of perfecting our know- 

 ledge of the flora of South Africa, and thus contributing 

 to the advancement of botanical science. 



" On making my first tour of the Colony to see its flora 

 and its capabilities, I found myself face to face with a 



