400 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



profession of forestry than with a pro- 

 fession such as mechanical engineering. 

 In the latter the demand for men had 

 to be made by the mechanical engi- 

 neers themselves, in other words, they 

 built the business as they went along. 

 With forestry we have this business 

 already in operation to its maximum 

 extent and it is a business second only 

 in importance to that of agriculture. 



A fourth great source of employment 

 for foresters is to be in connection with 

 water companies and other companies 

 or individuals holding timber land for 

 other purposes aside from lumbering. 

 Here will be one of the best chances 

 to practice proper management and 

 show that the net income depends di- 

 rectly on the amount of the invest- 

 ment, as the financial gain from the 

 management of such forests will not 

 be the all-important consideration. 



Water companies, the entire coun- 

 try over, are making a serious effort to 

 ^ain control of their watersheds merely 

 for protective purposes and the grov/- 

 ing of timber is the only use consistent 

 with this object to which such holdings 

 ■can be put and companies are usually 

 satisfied if the revenue returned will 

 pay taxes, etc., and at the same time 

 show improvement of their land. It 

 will be only a few years before the 

 importance of wood production will not 

 fall far below the main object of such 

 •companies. 



The country over, there are millions 

 of acres held by private individuals who 

 have only an aesthetic interest in their 

 holdings. If the aesthetic value of 

 these forests will not be destroyed, 

 when such forests furnish an appreci- 

 able revenue, so much the better and 

 foresters surely will manage all such 

 €States at a not very distant day. 



CITIES EMPLOY FORESTERS 



Many of the cities, particularly in 

 eastern United States, employ foresters. 

 In the true sense of the word these men 

 cannot be called foresters and yet there 

 is no training except that of forester 

 which would fit them for their duties. 

 AVhere these men are employed, the 

 satisfaction obtained is very marked 



and every town of over 40,000 to 

 50,000 inhabitants can well afford to 

 employ a forester, and the larger cities 

 more than one and ultimately they will 

 be brought to this. In this connection 

 would come also the handling of large 

 public parks, of which there are a 

 great many throughout the country. 

 Here, of course, financial return 

 would not be considered and yet to 

 properly administer such lands, a great 

 deal of forestry knowledge would be 

 needed. 



The vocation of teaching will con- 

 stantly make more and more of a drain 

 on all branches of forestry practice. 

 At the present time it is almost im- 

 possible to get efficient teachers to 

 properly equip such schools as are in 

 existence. 



Another branch of forestry which 

 has not been developed as yet is that 

 of the management of communal for- 

 ests. Just how much of a factor this 

 will be is very uncertain, but that it 

 will be a factor, to some extent, we 

 are very sure. Legislation making it 

 possible to establish such forests, has 

 already been passed by one State and 

 steps toward establishing a county and 

 also a city forest, have been taken in 

 another State. Such forests will be 

 largely managed by scientific men. 



A very important field of the forester 

 is in consulting work. There are some 

 very successful men making a business 

 of this at the present time and this 

 line of work must necessarily increase 

 by leaps and bounds in the future. 

 There are thousands of holders of for- 

 est land whose possessions are not ex- 

 tensive enough to permit a forester 

 spending his whole time thereon and 

 yet the owner is ready to pay for the 

 proper management. Reforestation, 

 surveying, estimation of fire damage 

 and the making of working plans, are 

 all broad subjects and fall easily to the 

 consulting foresters. 



But let us get down to the real in- 

 fluence of the increasing number of 

 forest schools. From the very begin- 

 ning of the forestry movement, the ad- 

 vocates of this phase of conservation 

 have spent their greatest amount of 



