Creation of an Ideal 517 



been entirely satisfactory, he is given the promotion standing of 

 Forest Assistant (Forstassessor), although some of the States 

 require a further examination for this promotion. Seldom is the 

 entire period, as practicant, spent on one forest ; usually he goes 

 from forest to forest and from district to district so that he may 

 see the best in each branch of work. In this way his training re- 

 mains broad, and he retains his power to think independently. 



The countries of Europe have never failed to recognize the 

 value of the German educational system, especially in its appli- 

 cation to forestry, and practically all of the educational Institu- 

 tions now have regulations limiting the number of foreign regis- 

 trations to a certain per cent of the total. Foreign students pursue 

 the same courses as the German, take the State examinations and, 

 usually, spend at least one year as practicant. Most of these men 

 must take a further examination upon their return home, for few 

 of the countries recognize the standard of State examination of 

 the others. A few of the countries require that their students 

 in forestry spend at least a portion of their period of preparation 

 in Germany. England requires aspirants for the Indian Service 

 to spend one year following the university course in practical 

 work in Germany, and, in order that these men experience no 

 financial difficulty, makes them an allowance of $1,500 for the 

 year. Under a special arrangement with the Government these 

 men receive the training of practicants, although they are given 

 greater latitude in the choice of work. Semi-monthly they sub- 

 mit reports, in German, to the Home Office, describing the work 

 performed and giving the data collected. Italy, Greece, Rou- 

 mania all require that their students in forestry spend at least a 

 portion of the time in Germany, although they offer no financial 

 inducements. 



Occasionally, German governments arrange foreign tours for 

 members of her Forest Service and it is expected that this feature 

 of the work will grow rapidly in the future. There should, in 

 fact, be an exchange of forest officials between the different 

 countries, for such an exchange of ideas would be most helpful 

 to all concerned. Of especial value, however, is an inspection of 

 German forest conditions to representatives of those countries 

 whose forestry is in the embr}'onic stage. It is all very well for 

 students to study methods of managment from books, but there 



