The Sciences Underlying Forestry. 25 



Forestry is an art which, like agriculture, is concerned in the 

 use of the soil for crop production. Just as the agriculturist is 

 engaged in the production of food crops, so the forester is en- 

 gaged in the production of wood crops. Finally, both practice 

 their art for the same practical purpose, namely for revenue. The 

 art is carried on as a business in which naturally the money re- 

 sult is the ultimate aim. 



All arts have a scientific basis, are applications of science 

 proper, or of parts of various sciences. The knowledge of these 

 may have been acquired either systematically or empirically, and 

 may be possessed in different degrees ; but even the commonest 

 arts are based upon more or less systematized knowledge. 



The butcher, the surgeon, the sculptor, all rely upon a knowl- 

 edge of anatomy; although, according to the different object, 

 their knowledge is of a different degree and acquired in a differ- 

 ent manner. Similarly, the botanist, the horticulturist, the 

 forester need knowledge of botany, each in a different manner. 



Success and improvement in the practice of the technical arts 

 depends finally upon the volume of applicable knowledge of 

 sciences. Volume, however, is a product of area and depth. 

 And as even the specialist possesses depth only in certain parts of 

 his field or his area of knowledge, so the practitioner, though he 

 may have to survey a broad field of science, needs depth only in 

 portions, so that his bottom of scientific knowledge may exhibit a 

 rather undulating surface of uneven depths. In other words, the 

 thoroughness with which the different sciences and parts of 

 sciences underlying his art must be known by him is variable ac- 

 cording to his necessities in their application. 



Yet as the true artist needs genius to produce a master work, 

 so the practitioner in a technical art needs more than the merely 

 technical contents of the professional branches and parts of 

 sciences, the practical details of which may be learned outside of 

 Universities. He needs judgment and business instinct, he needs 

 a degree of general education which contributes towards forming 

 breadth and depth of judgment; he needs thorough familiarity 

 with the principles underlying facts, and the capacity for applying 

 knowledge and inventing new combinations. Hence the most 

 efficient practitioner requires not only more knowledge than the 

 mere modicum of applicable science but also other branches of 

 education, which do not appear in the professional curriculum. 



