634 Forestry Quarterly 



grade as an Extra Assistant or Extra Deputy Conservator, ac" 

 cording to his length of service. In any case he is the executive 

 officer in charge of all forests under the Forest Service in his Divi- 

 sion, whether reserved, protected or unclassed. Many Divisions 

 contain no reserved forest. The Divisional Forest Officer, as the 

 various grades of men in charge of Divisions are known for con- 

 venience, rarely have trained assistants. The Imperial Forest 

 Service man goes in charge of a Division almost as soon as ap- 

 pointed, and the staff available, of a grade to be useful as trained 

 assistants, is too smaU to supply assistants excepting in a few 

 very busy or very important districts. 



The small Divisions, as compared with administrative units in 

 Canada or the United States, the lack of trained assistants, and 

 the necessity of giving an incredible amount of close constant 

 personal supervision to the native staff result in the Divisional 

 Forest Officer in India spending fully half his time actually in his 

 forest. Although there appear to be reports, forms and accoimts 

 without nimiber, covering every little transaction, these do not 

 tie the forester to his office. Mail carriers only cost about eight 

 cents a day and the office follows the forester to the field. The 

 result is that Indian foresters retain their keenness for field work 

 and maintain their forest eyes. On the other hand, in North 

 America the size of the administrative units, the impossibility of 

 having even urgent office work sent to the field tends too rapidly 

 to make office men of foresters. Either a man is kept continually 

 on field work involving a great amount of hardship and sickens 

 on the profession, or is transferred to executive work at an early 

 stage and thenceforth sees too many papers and too few trees. 



Canadian foresters have no monopoly of hardships. The men 

 in India who go cheerfully to their annual spell of fever, who feed 

 an iniquitous variety of insects, and in a shade temperature of 

 115° do their field work in a forest that offers no shade, aU the 

 while furnishing energy not only for themselves but for the whole 

 subordinate staff, must rank as the heroes of forestry. This is 

 not for a few years only in the beginning. In India, the whole- 

 some tradition prevails, that while a man is in service, which is 

 for 25 years if he survives the climate, he must do his annual 

 three to six months " to-or " of the forest or forests under his charge. 

 They all look forward to it. 



Divisions are grouped for administrative purposes into working 



