Opinions of Continental Foresters, and 



Professors of Forest Science, on the Location 



of a School of Forestry. 



By the EEV, JOHN C. BROWN, LL.D., Haddington. 

 {^Continued from page 761.) 



In continuation of his speech, Dr. Yon SeckendorfF said that he 

 attributed the establishment of isolated special schools of forestry 

 to the state of the forests in a bygone day, and to the limited educa- 

 tion required for the forest service of that day, which was not such as 

 would fit the. applicant for a university course of study. But things 

 were now completely changed, A more exact and scientific method of 

 research in forest matters had been introduced, and there was de- 

 manded of students of forest science a higher testing examination ; 

 and the exact point at which forest academies ceased to be sufiicient, 

 and should give pl^ce to more comprehensive Hochschulen, could be 

 pointed out. It was from the moment that there were required of 

 if candidates for appointments in the Forest Service the very same edu- 

 cational attainments as were required of candidates for employment in 

 other departments of the service of the State. The advocates for special 

 and separate forest schools were accustomed to attribute to them a 

 number of advantages over the Allgemeine Hochschulen. But when all 

 questionable or adventitious advantages were subtracted there remained 

 only these two: — 1. In these isolated institutions the students were 

 trained in practical forestry ; and 2. Only in these were the necessary 

 studies conducted with a special reference to the requirements of the 

 forester. But underlying these, again, there were two assumptions ^ — 1 . 

 That 'mi\\e y'lcimiy oH\\G Allgemeine Hochseliulen there were no forests 

 suitable for being used in the instruction of students. 2. That there 

 in the very nature of the thing a pm'ely theoretical education must pre- 

 vail. And he alleged that as a matter of fact both of these assumptions 

 are found to be without foundation. The number of towns in Ger- 

 many, richly surrounded by woods, which were the sites of Hochschulen 

 and of universities, was very great. In a line drawn from the coast of 

 the German Ocean to the place of meeting where they were assembled 

 alone there were Hanover, Gottingen, Marburg, Giessen, Heidelberg, 

 Carlsruhe, Freiburg, all so surrounded ; and, moreover, the extent of a 

 forest was not tlie property of it on which depended solely or even 

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