SSO JOURNAL OF I'ORKSTKY 



this much, there is no excuse for losing sight of the real forestry prob- 

 lems, which are the sine qua non of all scientific forestry, and the prob- 

 lems which, if we are some day to have a science of American forestry, 

 must be solved. 



In making a plea for more investigations in silvics and silviculture — 

 real forestry problems — I wish to remind the reader that the general 

 public, who is paying for these investigations, has come to understand 

 that because a piece of research work is theoretical it is not necessarily 

 unpractical. "Theoretical" and "unpractical" are no longer viewed 

 with suspicion, as being synonymous. Proof of this statement can be 

 found in the fact that a large part of the investigations of our agricul- 

 tural experiment stations, while largely purely scientific and theoretical, 

 has won the approbation of the people, because they have found out 

 that the theoretical is the most practical in the long run. Thus it will 

 be with our purely scientific forestry research. 



DIVORCING RESEARCH WORK EROM ADMINISTRATIVE 



What I have said about the research and the administrative type of 

 man points to the conclusion that these are two distinctly different jobs. 

 Other factors permitting, the two classes of work should be done by 

 different types of men. 



I have already pointed out (^) that other forestry-practicing nations 

 have recognized this difference and have associated their forest experi- 

 ment stations w ith forestry schools and not with the bureaucratic forest 

 service of the state or nation. I have also attempted in this connection 

 to point out some of the advantages of this association and intend in 

 the present paper to go into that part of the subject more fully. 



In Prussia, w^hich has one of the largest investigative organizations, 

 the central forest experiment station (as distinguished from the many 

 substations in the woods) is connected with the Forest x\cademy at 

 Eberswalde, whose director is at the same time the head of the ex- 

 periment station. It comprises six departments, each in charge of a 

 chief: forestry proper, meteorolog}', geonomy, plant physiology, plant 

 pathology, and zoolog}'. Other states of Germany have substantially 

 the same organization, as well as France, Hungary, Sweden, Switzer- 

 land, India, and others. Only very recently (May, 191 7) Sweden 

 opened a new forestry school and forest experiment station. These are 

 located together on the same tract of land, just outside of the city of 

 Stockholm. In short, the forestry-practicing nations of the world have 

 recognized that such an organization is essential to good research work. 



