FIELD STUDY 45 



from their lack of records, have no cumulative store 

 upon which to draw. This is an important form of 

 capital. Note keeping is readily seen to consist not 

 only of observations, but also of suggestions, infer- 

 ences, conclusions, and reflections of any kind which 

 will facilitate methods of work and the interpretation 

 of the facts. 



In describing environments, it is desirable to 

 use the same general method for different localities 

 so that the descriptions may be comparable and show 

 some degree of standardization. This method has 

 been found very useful in taxonomic studies and has 

 similar advantages here. A brief general statement 

 of the most conspicuous features may precede, and 

 be followed by detailed descriptions. The order 

 may well vary with individual workers, but a uni- 

 form method is desirable throughout any single 

 piece of work and has obvious advantages. Thus one 

 practical plan applied to a forest habitat is, to describe 

 the substratum, the soil, rock, etc., then the forest 

 litter of organic debris, then the boles of the trees 

 and the forest crown and its character, and finally 

 the operation of those agencies which are causing 

 changes in the forest and which will perpetuate 

 or change it in the future. No practical forester 

 would be content to shut his eyes to the future crop 

 of wood, and in the study of animal habitats we must 

 not be content to rest below such a commercial stand- 

 ard. To some this seems very theoretical, and yet 

 a farmer who counts upon a crop in five months, 

 or a forester, in fifty years, is not so branded, and 



