64 Forestry Quarterly 



opinion no longer permits persons to enrich themselves unduly at 

 the expense of the public forest, and it comes now powerfully 

 to the aid of the forest administration in its struggle against 

 this ancient abuse. 



Let us examine now in what the activity of the forester in 

 the forest consists, outside of administrative and police duties. 

 It is necessary to set forth in relief the characteristics of the 

 work of the forester, if it is to be compared with that of other 

 technical men. 



The engineer, the architect, the chemist and the surveyor work 

 under conditions which permit of the fruits of their activity be- 

 ing judged immediately and without difficulty. It is not the 

 same with the forester. The great public does not notice, so to 

 speak, anything of his activity in the forest. It sees plants stand- 

 ing of all sizes. It notes with pleasure the construction of new 

 roads. Its attention will be drawn to the logs and the fagots 

 made upon a tract by a felling. It is a special joy to admire 

 the good order of a well-managed nursery. These obvious ex- 

 hibits of the forester's activity interest the public most. As to 

 the essential work of the foresters, there is generally little idea. 

 It is also difficult to make the public in general understand in 

 what it specially consists. This comprehension pre-supposes a 

 knowledge of the natural, biological development of the forest 

 through all the phases from its birth to its exploitation. Only 

 a trained eye can seize the perceptible differences, slow to show, 

 in the development which extends through three generations 

 and more. 



Suppose a forest in which there has been made in winter a 

 moderate thinning cut. The products of the exploitation have 

 been taken away and the tract has been well cleared of all the 

 debris. When in May or June the passer-by comes again to this 

 spot when the forest has put on its spring dress, again it seems 

 to him so beautiful, so harmoniously simple, that he often does 

 not understand whence has come the supply of all the wood re- 

 cently exploited and he has no idea of all the physical and men- 

 tal work which the maintenance, in spite of the cut, of the beau- 

 tiful picture which enthuses him represents. He is inclined to 

 believe, knowing that the trees grow by themselves, that that comes 

 about without difficulty and entirely naturally. He imagines 

 too often that the planting of little firs is one of the principle oc- 



