CONSIDERATIONS IN SILVICULTURAL RESEARCH 885 



work gradually becomes narrowed down to merely work in applied 

 science, the fact that scientists and professors from the college or uni- 

 versity have a hand in it brings in the purely scientific point of view. 

 Not only does such work require field investigations, but laboratory, 

 library, and academic leadership are important and often fundamental 

 essentials. Research men must keep in touch with the literature of the 

 subject and the progress of science. For these reasons the advantage 

 of carrying on research work near an educational institution is appar- 

 ent. Furthermore, one or two men cannot hope to master all sciences 

 required in effective silvicultural research work. They must neces- 

 sarily consult with plant physiologists, geologists, meteorologists, soil 

 experts, pathologists, physicists, chemists, and others. This can be 

 most effectively done when a station is connected with the university. 

 In carrying on research it becomes absolutely necessary to gather to- 

 gether all the literature pertaining to each problem that has thus far 

 accumulated, often in three or four different languages. This means 

 first-class libraries, which are almost without exception connected with 

 the great educational institutions and botanical centers. The outcome 

 of research work to a large extent depends upon student habits, to- 

 gether with a research spirit and attitude which is rarely developed 

 outside of academic influence. A research man must continue to ac- 

 quire much of his preparation as he goes. A good library is therefore 

 his greatest asset. 



These, then, are some of the advantages of co-ordinating the research 

 work with the educational institutions, and it is for these reasons that 

 I believe that forestry research in this country will not receive the 

 proper consideration until a number of state forest experiment stations 

 have been established. Therefore no stone should be left unturned to 

 encourage the establishment of these stations. 



SUMMARY AND COXCIA'SIOXS 



1. Research is an attitude and a spirit and is nuich deeper than ex- 

 perimentation. It is the process by which knowledge is advanced. The 

 present war has emphasized the need of research. Progress in agri- 

 culture has been due to research. Forestry needs research in pure 

 science to serve as a basis for applied science, which comes later. 



2. The present investigative program of the Forest Service contains 

 a large number of problems and large appropriations ; but less than 25 

 per cent of both deal with real forestry. On the whole the problems 

 treated are of a practical or applied nature rather than of a fuiida- 



