652 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cient practice in timber operations — 

 tree-felling, log-making, skidding, etc. 

 - — to make them proficient in the use of 

 woodsmen's tools. 



The senior class during the fall term 

 study forest management and forest 

 improvement work, or construction en- 

 gineering. The field work in forest 

 management involves the making of 

 working plans for the Manitou Forest 

 or adjacent tracts. 



The course in Forest Improvement 

 Work; furnishes instruction in the build- 

 ing of forest roads, trails, bridges, 

 fire-lines, telephone lines, lookout sta- 

 tions and ranger cabins. It is impera- 

 tive that a forester acqtdre a thorough 

 knowledge of these operations in order 

 that he can lay out, estimate the cost 

 of, and supervise such work. A large 

 amount of construction engineering 

 is always necessar}^ on forests that are 

 being put under scientific management 

 and today forms one of the chief lines 

 of work on our National Forests. 



A few days of the fall term are spent 

 in collecting the annual seed crop. At 

 the proper time, just before the cones 

 of the yellow pine and Douglas fir are 

 ready to open, they are collected and 

 spread out on canvas sheets to be 

 opened by the sun. They are then 

 thrashed out, cleaned and stored away 

 to be used in the planting operations 

 the following spring. 



The winter term, from the first of 

 December to April, is spent in Colorado 



Springs, when library, laboratory and 

 wood testing work is carried on in 

 connection with the lectures and recita- 

 tions in the various technical courses. 

 The wood testing laboratory is well 

 equipped for that purpose. Here is 

 mounted a Riehle testing machine for 

 making tension, compression, shearing 

 and transverse tests. Students are 

 required to make a series of tests upon 

 the resisting properties of various 

 species of commercial woods. 



In the spring the work is again 

 transferred to the field but the two 

 classes separate. The juniors spend 

 part of the term in the Manitou Forest 

 and part at the Government Nursery at 

 Monument. They return to the Forest 

 for the field work in silviculture. 



The seniors visit some large lumber- 

 ing center in the South, where they 

 study logging and milling operations 

 on a large scale. They also estimate 

 an extensive tract of timber and make a 

 logging plan for it. The spring of 1913 

 was spent at Crossett, Arkansas, where 

 the facilities for such work are un- 

 excelled. 



In addition to the prescribed course 

 as here outlined, the students are 

 expected to gain further experience by 

 spending their summer vacations in 

 some kind of practical forest work- 

 either working for a liunber company 

 or in the Forest Service. Most of them 

 obtain employment on the National 

 Forests. 



