It was the boys who got hold of the Book, formed their own Patrols and found their own Scoutmasters. It was because the sisters would not stay away that the Guides were born;  the little brothers made the Wolf Cubs inevitable, and the unwillingness of those who had outgrown the Scout Troop to sever all connections with it brought in Rovering.

Once again in recent years the older boys in many places wanted more virile activities than were possible for the 11 and 12-year-old. Senior Scouts were the only answer. Many of the Courts of Honour had already banded the older boys into Patrols of their own and the new branch was merely a recognition of established fact. Scouting provides, if we use it rightly, what the boys want; not what we older people think they should want.

Scouting for Boys remains the basis for Scouting and the source of inspiration for Scoutmasters. When Scouting has failed it has been because we have departed from the Patrol System and have failed to trust the boys with responsibility, because we have made our Scouting too nearly a school subject and not a life of joyous adventure. Boys, particularly those who have reached adolescence, demand a challenge to their powers of mind, body and spirit. Scouting can and does provide that challenge if we use it aright. Read this book, not just once nor even twice, but constantly. Each reading will provide something new. Each reading will give us just that inspiration which we require to prevent us from becoming stale. We must recognise that through all the changes in our national life, in our educational system and our ideas of recreation, B.-P. did “know best.” While minor amendments may be necessary from time to time, the fundamentals of Scouting which have produced the most universal brotherhood of youth the world has seen, remain secure as a monument to one of the greatest benefactors to mankind.