EDITORIAL COMMENT 



eXCEPTIONS will probably be taken to that portion of Mr. B. D. Chan- 

 dler's article in this issue, which deals with the undergraduate forest 

 school and the training and ability of its graduates. It is undoubtedly 

 true that in the best grade of undergraduate schools a very thorough prepara- 

 tion for technical forestry may be obtained, and at the same time the student will 

 save one or two years and considerable expense in getting his forestry educa- 

 tion. Many men have passed the civil service examination for Forest assistant 

 and received Forest Service appointments from undergraduate schools, and they 

 will undoubtedly continue to compete with graduate schools for these posi- 

 tions. But, on the whole, the statements made in this article are substantially 

 true. There is need in forestry for two classes of men : first, woods foremen 

 and local superintendents of small estates, who are capable of conducting w^ork 

 such as planting, cutting of timber, or running a portable sawmill, at a 

 salary which will bear a reasonable relation to the size of the tract and the 

 reveniie it will yield ; second, foresters, capable of solving all problems arising 

 in the profession. The standing of such men compared with the woods manager 

 is that of the ciivl engineer compared to the construction foreman. The latter 

 needs a practical education, but no one would deny the need of giving the en- 

 gineer the best theoretical training, nor does he become less practical on ac- 

 count of it. 



The technical problems which the high-grade forester must solve are met 

 in the fields of 



a. Management of very large forest areas in which problems of policy, 

 business and scientific research are combined, such as for instance on the 

 National Forests. 



b. Organization and management of State forestry, involving the devel- 

 opment of State policies, education of the public, plans for fire protection, 

 taxation of forests and practical assistance to owners. 



c. Private work, either connected with some large owner as a corporation 

 or railroad where the work calls for diversity of training and application, or 

 as consulting forester, whose function, like any other expert, is to give advice 

 and formulate plans for the management of forests. 



It is to fill these needs, — that of the forest -engineer, — that the high 

 grade schools exist, and the graduate schools have an undoubted advantage 

 over undergraduate institutions, largely for the reasons given in the article. 



On the other hand, a far greater number of men will be needed to fill 

 positions of immediate responsibility in managing small forest estates, acting 

 as rangers, woods foremen and in similar capacities, than will ever be needed 

 for the broader positions. It would seldom pay these men to attend a graduate 

 school, and too often in the undergraduate school, they get a course that is 

 neither well suited to their immediate needs, nor satisfactory from the stand- 

 point of the higher preparation. What is needed now in Forest education is a 

 greater number of first-class schools for the education of rangers and woods- 

 men. Meanwhile the enormous field of popular education in forestry is either 

 completely neglected or carried on in a desultory way by State or experiment 

 station officials. 



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