HENRY SOLON GRAVES, FORESTER 

 UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE 



ON THE I2th of January the Pres- 

 ident appointed to the office of 

 Forester of the United States, 

 Henry Solon Graves, the Director 

 of the Yale Forest School. How 

 completely Mr. Graves fills the re- 

 quirements of this exacting position by 

 reason of professional training and 

 practical experience is shown by his 

 record. 



He is the son of Prof. W. B. Graves, 

 for many years professor of natural 

 sciences at Phillips Academy, Andover, 

 Massachusetts, and recently retired. He 

 was born in Marietta, Ohio, May 3, 

 1871, prepared for college at Phillips 

 Andover Academy, and entered Yale 

 with the class of 1892. That he was 

 an all-around man in college is shown 

 by the fact that he played quarter-bacjc 

 on the University football team and 

 gained high rank in scholarship. He 

 was an intimate friend of Gifford 

 Pinchot and was led by him to enter 

 the study of forestry. After a course 

 of graduate study at Harvard, he joined 

 Mr. Pinchot at Biltmore, where the 

 first application of scientific forestry to 

 American conditions was then being 

 made on the estate of George W. Van- 

 derbilt. At that time there were no 

 forestry schools in this country, and, 

 after a period of practical work at Bilt- 

 more, Mr. Graves went abroad to study 

 in European schools. This was only a 

 few years ago, and yet he was the 

 second American to enter the profession 

 of forestry, Mr. Pinchot having been 

 the first. His European studies were 

 carried on under direction of the most 

 eminent of the old world foresters. Sir 

 Dietrich Brandis, principally at Munich. 

 On his return to the United States he 

 was associated with Mr. Pinchot, who 

 was then practising as a consulting 

 forester in New York City, and they 

 106 



collaborated in the preparation of a 

 volume on "The White Pine." Mr. 

 Pinchot became forester of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in July, 1896, and 

 Mr. Graves was his first assistant. 

 While in this office he continued forest 

 explorations and investigations in the 

 West. Two of his publications at this 

 time were "The Black Hills Forest 

 Reserve" and "Practical Forestry in 

 the Adirondacks." The Yale Forest 

 School was founded in 1900 and Mr. 

 Graves left the Division of Forestry to 

 become director of the school. In that 

 work he has been conspicuously success- 

 ful. The Yale Forest School was the 

 first advanced school of forestry in the 

 country and it has maintained a leading 

 position. In the intervals of his work 

 at Yale, Mr. Graves has made a number 

 of trips to the National Forests of the 

 West as advisor of the Government or 

 for the private study of forestry 

 problems. 



His publications have been of a high 

 order of professional merit. In addition 

 to those that have been mentioned they 

 include, "The Woodlot," "Forest Men- 

 suration," "The Woodsman's Hand- 

 book," and various others. He is editor 

 of the Proceedings of the Society 

 of American Foresters and is a promi- 

 nent member of the organization. He 

 has been for several years a director 

 of The American Forestry Association 

 and has served on its Executive Com- 

 mittee and very recently on its Maga- 

 zine Committee. In this connection, he 

 has had much to do with the plans for 

 the improvement and development of 

 American Forestry. He was a mem- 

 ber of the National Conservation Com- 

 mission, is chairman of the Connecticut 

 Conservation Association, president of 

 the Connecticut Forestry Association, 

 vice president of the Society for the 

 Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 



