1 6 Forestry Quarterly. 



this country and the promotion of the policy of the land for the 

 people — with all that it contains and can produce — has slowly 

 brought together a group of workers who have learned that the 

 work with these great movements has been more enjoyable, more 

 profitable to them than the mere accumulation of riches from 

 other sources. These large movements, recent though they are, 

 such as forestry and irrigation — all that we mean by conserva- 

 tion — are already having tremendous influence upon the trend of 

 our educational development. 



Forestry, which everywhere is increasing the wideness of its 

 scope and every year meaning more to the general welfare of the 

 people, is peculiarly different from other and often seemingly 

 similar professions in the demands which it makes upon those 

 who will follow it as a life work. There is no profession outside 

 of the historic professions of the law, medicine, and the ministry, 

 which demands a more thorough training. The forester is 

 brought into contact with and must deal with every phase of our 

 economic development ; he must be able to deal successfully with 

 every class of men, which necessitates a knowledge of the princi- 

 ples of business law controlling the business relations of men. 

 At the same time he must be a forester with a thorough knowl- 

 edge of the principles of silviculture, forest mensuration and 

 management, lumbering and utilization, and must understand and 

 know how to combat such enemies of the forest as fire, insects, 

 and plant diseases. And last, but by far not least, he must under- 

 stand and be able to appreciate the relationship of forestry to 

 other great industrial movements in this country. Dr. Henry S. 

 Pritchett, in a recent article upon professional education, sums up 

 nicely the dangers of hasty and unprepared entrance into any 

 profession which has to do with the welfare of our people. He 

 says in part : "The only possible protection and assurance which 

 the public can have is to insist upon fundamental training as a 

 preliminary to any practice and it may rightly suspect the motives 

 of any set of would-be practitioners who undertake to evade these 

 reasonable requirements * * * not only does the public find 

 its sole protection in the uniform requirements of high standards 

 for entrance into these professions, but the tolerance of low 

 standards means the maintenance of an open door for the benefit, 

 not of the deserving, but of the unfit." If the profession of 



