44 Forestry Quarterly. 



beflissener took part in Survey work while on the Oberforsterei. 

 He must also sign the student's diary. 



Next step in the preparation is the three years' course at the 

 Forstakademie. There are two of these Royal Prussian Forest 

 i\cademies, one at Eberswalde near Berlin, the other at Miinden 

 near Hannover. One can enter these academies either at the be- 

 ginning of the winter semester on October 15 or of the summer 

 semester on April 10. Both schools are of equal rank ; however, 

 the one at Eberswalde is better known and the significant fact 

 remains that the students from Miinden come to Eberswalde [near 

 Berlin where the examination is held !] for a final polish before the 

 Referendar examination whereas the reverse is not the case. Both 

 academies are state institutions and the instructors are forest 

 officials of high rank — Forstmeisters. The director is an Ober- 

 forstmeister, and the position is a very desirable one both pro- 

 fessionally and socially. Both academies are admirably situated 

 for purposes of instruction, being right in the midst of extensive 

 forests which serve as splendid demonstration grounds. Besides 

 this, frequent excursions are made to more distant points so that 

 the graduate of either academy becomes acquainted with practi- 

 cally every kind of forest and tree in Germany. 



Aside from the many foreigners attending these academies, 

 there is a regular enrollment of about sixty-five students in all. 

 Formerly the classes were much larger — fully twice as large, but 

 as the Service became crowded, the graduates had to wait so long 

 for a permanent appointment that in justice to the men only 

 those are admitted for whom places can be provided within a 

 .reasonable time. Even then, a man is often forty before he gets 

 a position as Oberforster of some Forest. Obviously, this means 

 a careful weeding of the applicants of whom there are always a 

 great number, for the career is an exceedingly popular one; and 

 those who are accepted as Forstbeflissene can feel assured of 

 permanent appointment by the state as long as they measure up 

 to average standards. This induces carelessness on the part of 

 the accepted students and a surprising lack of ambition to stand 

 well in their studies. However, it is the less of two evils for, as 

 with us in America, the technically trained forester is not fitted 

 thereby for other lines of work, and if there is no place for him 

 in the State Service or in private work, he is left stranded. 



