CONSIDERATIONS IN SILVICULTURAL RESEARCH 801 



less, of a sifting-out process. Moreover, I am speaking not of indi- 

 viduals, but of a system or policy in vogue now about 8 or 9 years. 

 The number of men that have come and gone in this class of work 

 is large. In one experiment station alone more than a dozen have had 

 charge in the last 7 years, to my knowledge. 



In the beginning, therefore, a great many men of varying degrees of 

 training were tried out as investigators at the experiment stations. 

 The Forest Service had to use the men they had ; there was no choice. 

 The time has come when the large forestry schools should make provi- 

 sion to give prospective research men a thorough and systematic train- 

 ing. Men should not be allowed to drift into this kind of work hap- 

 hazardly. Only men of special training and the right temperament 

 should be considered and administrative ability should be a minor 

 consideration, because this is not an asset that many good research men 

 possess. But how are we to get properly trained men for this im- 

 portant work? The forestry schools must see to it that men desiring 

 to specialize in this phase of forestry get the proper training in the 

 fundamental sciences. The Forest Service should create a new position 

 for this type of forester and give him some such title as "research 

 assistant" or "forest investigator," and the position should be placed 

 on a par with the present position of "forest assistant" and "grazing ex- 

 aminer" under the classified civil service. 



Then comes the question, What should their training in the forestry 

 school consist of? That depends upon the kind of research work for 

 which we think they ought to be prepared. To my way of thinking, 

 silvical and silviculture research is most important. American for- 

 estry's greatest present need, I think, is good silviculture. Good sil- 

 viculture can be born only of sound research based upon careful ex- 

 periments and observation. Of supreme importance to sound research 

 of this kind is good botany. Good botany courses are more essential, 

 to my mind, than many of the highly technical forestry courses now 

 oflfered. I believe that those intending to specialize in research can get 

 along without highly technical regulation and valuation much more 

 readily than they can without courses in plant physiology and ecology, 

 intended for use in silvicultural work, principally because sound silvi- 

 cultural methods can be applied much more widely at the present time 

 than regulation and valuation, which at best have only occasional ap- 

 plication. 



The man intending to enter the field of silvicultural research needs 

 other courses at college besides those in plant physiology and plant 

 ecology, although these are the most important. He should, among 



