1902.] YALE FOREST SCHOOL AND ITS PURPOSES. 1 89 



tion, are constantly met by the Western forester. Take, for 

 example, the question of sheep grazing. At the present time 

 it is one of the most perplexing problems of the forest re- 

 serves. Many of the reserves are used as public sheep ranges. 

 Agriculturists claim that the grazing of sheep hardens the 

 surface of the ground, destroys the undergrowth, and causes 

 the water to run off rapidly over the surface of the ground, 

 thereby preventing the winter rains and snows from feeding 

 the springs. It is claimed that, in consequence, the stream 

 flow is less steady, and also that the irrigating ditches are 

 filled up with silt, involving the expense of repeated cleaning. 

 It is also claimed that sheep eat and tramp down the young 

 growth and thus prevent the reproduction of the forest; that 

 fires are set by the herders, and that altogether sheep grazing 

 is a curse to the community. Wool growers, on the other 

 hand, maintain that sheep do not interfere with the repro- 

 duction of the forest, and that the herding of sheep does not 

 influence the flow of water, but benefits the forest by keeping 

 down the undergrowth, thus preventing forest fires. Forest- 

 ers are now endeavoring to determine the exact effect of sheep 

 grazing upon forest growth. For the study of this problem 

 and other similar problems, a thorough scientific knowledge 

 of all the laws governing the life history of trees and forests 

 is required. 



But the government and the states have still another class 

 of work which must be done. At the present time the sci- 

 ence of forestry is in its formative stage. As yet we know 

 comparatively little about the life history of our different 

 species. Take, for example, our native Connecticut trees. 

 We know in general that within thirty or forty years we can 

 grow a chestnut telegraph pole, but there is no one in this 

 room who can tell me what can be produced on land of a cer- 

 tain character and of a certain density of stocking with certain 

 kinds of trees within certain definite periods of time. A man 

 comes to me and says, I wish to buy a certain tract of land 

 covered with a young growth, say of white pine. Will it be 

 a profitable investment in view of the future production of 

 timber? Without a definite knowledge of the capabilities of 

 white pine forests under different conditions it is impossible 

 for me to give him an answer except in terms too vague and 

 general to satisfy a business man. A lumberman comes to 



