OPENINa ADDRESS. 



73 



of the latter country was fairly suitable for some other Conifers, 

 and many of the fine Mexican Pines could be grown there. 



The Chairman said he would not occupy the meeting with 

 further remarks, as he had taken the chair at very short notice, 

 and was quite unprepared for any formal address. He therefore 

 asked the attention of the audience to Mr. Malcolm Dunn's paper, 

 especially as that gentleman had displayed great energy in pro- 

 moting the success of the Conference. 



THE VALUE IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS OF 

 INTEODUCED CONIFEES. 



By Mr. Malcolm Dunn, F.R.H.S. 



The subject which has been assigned to me at this important 

 Conference — " The Value in the British Islands of Introduced 

 Conifers" — is a deeply interesting one to all concerned in the 

 management of our forests and woodlands, the beautifying of the 

 landscape, or the amenity and prosperity of the country. Year 

 by year the forests and woodlands in this country are becoming 

 a more important factor in the amount of revenue derived from 

 the land ; and as time rolls by, with its fluctuations in com- 

 mercial and rural prosperity, landowners are eager to adopt any 

 reasonable method by which their property may be improved 

 and its value permanently enhanced. From the dweller in the 

 stately mansion of the wealthy to the inhabitant of the lowly 

 cottage with its small garden plot, all are anxious to adorn their 

 places of abode and make them more beautiful and attractive. 

 For this purpose the treasures of the vegetable kingdom have 

 been ransacked throughout the civilised world, and often beyond 

 it, in the anxiety to secure the best and most beautiful of hardy 

 trees and shrubs for shelter and decoration. 



In carrying out these two leading objects — the economic and 

 the CBsthetic — exotic Conifers have played an important part, and 

 more particularly during the century which is nearing its close. 

 A little less than seventy years ago the Royal Horticultural 

 Society nobly led the van, when it despatched the intrepid David 



