Editors Box. 789 



of the term when I lel't the grammar school, my worthy parents were 

 extremely anxious that I should go to College to qualify myself for one of 

 the learned professions, although they could ill afford the moderate 

 amount of means required to keep a young fellow at the Scotch universi- 

 ties. Being possessed of a robust body and lots of good health, I had a 

 strong inclination for a 00 untry life, and would have readily taken 

 to the plough had my parents permitted. Being denied that, I was look- 

 ing out for some other country occupation of a nature less objectionable 

 to them, when I fell in with a forester on a neighbouring estate, who had 

 just had a letter from a man who had served under him some years before, 

 and who then held an appointment in the Indian Forest Department. 



The contents of that letter decided my choice of a profession, and 

 through the influence of this friendly forester I was settled down in my 

 present situation nearly three years ago. Since then I have fought on 

 through rough and smooth, and done my best with a good will to give 

 every satisfaction to a kind and good-hearted master, who has served here 

 as a forester — boy, man, and master — for nearly half a century. I believe 

 I have succeeded in winning his esteem and confidence as a workman ; 

 and putting all things together, I dare say most of my brethren 

 would say I have done very well, and acquired a fair knowledge of the 

 profession in the good old practical way, as well as reading up everything 

 relating to forestry that I could lay my hands on by buying or borrowing. 

 I may here be allowed to digress, to say how highly I and my fellow- 

 labourers, " Under Foresters," appreciate the boon of your monthly 

 Journal, the arrival of which on the 1st of each month is looked for- 

 ward to with great anxiety and ever-increasing interest ; the contents 

 "devoured" from beginning to end with the greatest avidity, and then 

 perused and conned over at leisure till the next number appears. What a 

 loss it has been to foresters that such a journal was not in existence many 

 years ago ! It is not yet a year old, and I must say that I have obtained 

 much more knowledge of my profession, both practically and scientifioally, 

 through reading its contents, than I have been able to obtain from all the 

 other books on forestry in existence in the English language. Both I 

 and my fellow-foresters feel that we owe much to the Journal of 

 Forestry, and sincerely wish it a long and prosperous career. 



Now to return to my own affairs. In the course of a few weeks I will 

 have completed my " apprenticeship." I have been looking forward with 

 pleasure and an agreeable feeling of lively hope to " bettering " myself by 

 a change to some more extended sphere, where I could see, and be allowed 

 to practise, the most approved arts of modern Scotch forestry; but the 

 letter of " Under Forester " has thrown somewhat of a damper on my hopes, 

 and I am at present quite at a loss as to what plan to adopt to succeed in 

 my (I hope) laudable desire to climb to the " top of the tree " of forestry 

 at a safe, sure, and steadily progressive rate of learning, and conse- 

 quent moving from place to place in the acquirement of practice and 

 experience. 



Owing to my master never having been more than a few days at a time 



