VOCATIONAL FORESTRY EDUCATION 

 By James B. Berry 



The Vocational Education Act (Smith-Hughes, 1917) has as its 

 object the promotion of vocational training of secondary school grade 

 in agriculture, home economics and trades and industries. The act 

 carries in appropriation, after attaining its maximum in 1925-26, of 

 $7,000,000, which is allotted to the States on a basis of population and 

 which must be offset by an equal amount for the same purposes by 

 the States or communities securing the benefits of the legislation. The 

 act is administered by a Federal Board for Vocational Education, but 

 the execution of the State program is placed in the hands of a State 

 created board, the State Board of Education being designated as a 

 rule. Of the total appropriation one-seventh is for the maintenance 

 of teacher training departments for the preparation of teachers of 

 vocational subjects. In general the teacher training departments are 

 created in connection with existing State institutions. 



Vocational forestry education falls within two fields ; farm forestry, 

 maple sugar production, and general silviculture being classed under 

 the head of agriculture; lumbering, paper making, wood distillation, 

 and wood manufacture coming under the head of industries. 



Vocational education in agriculture is well organized in most of 

 the States, the inauguration of vocational agricultural departments in 

 high schools proceeding as rapidly as teachers could be prepared. 

 There are at present several hundred agricultural high school depart- 

 ments and the possibility of the near future is that such a school will 

 be created in every rural community in the United States. In addi- 

 tion to fifty per cent of the school day during the high school course 

 being devoted to vocational agriculture the act requires that there 

 be six months of supervised farm practice. Many States provide in 

 the State plan for farm forestry as a part of vocational course and 

 State boards generally should be educated to an appreciation of the 

 importance of this subject. In addition to the high school work many 

 of the States are organizing special short-course schools for those who 

 are engaged in farming and a demand is frequently created for a few 

 "days' instruction in the management of the woodlot. In either type 



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