Standardisation of Instruction. 359 



by the instructors. The student cannot merely be shown by 

 excursions ; he can master the principles of silvics only by famili- 

 arity with the forest through repeated practical problems which 

 will enable him to recognize a stand as a unit of a given forest, 

 diagnose its condition, place it in its right relation with reference 

 to progressive development or retrogression and distinguish its 

 needs. 



Reproduction and Care of Forests {Natural Regeneration). 

 This section of Silviculture concerns itself with the actual cutting 

 of forests with a view to their reproduction, and with thinnings 

 and improvement fellings in forest stands. There are certain 

 underlying principles of cutting for reproduction. The appli- 

 cation of these principles has developed certain methods and 

 ithese have been developed into silvicultural systems. The 

 teacher should at the beginning make clear that these methods 

 any systems of fellings represent an expression of principle and 

 are subject to great variation under different conditions. This 

 is to avoid the tendency of undertaking to apply rules of felling 

 in a more or less rigid manner. The mere enumeration and 

 description of the silvicultural methods are the smallest part of 

 the instruction. The student must rather see the fundamental 

 principles underlymg them, and understand their relation to the 

 facts of silvics. 



The forester has a definite aim in view relative to the repro- 

 duction of a given stand. His knowledge of silvics enables him 

 to see how this can be done. The silvicultural methods as de- 

 scribed enable him to systematize his work, but in applying a 

 given method on the ground he has to exercise the greatest selec- 

 tive judgment in designating the individual trees or groups of 

 trees to be taken and those to be left standing for seed or for 

 subsequent growth. All too often a student feels that he under- 

 stands the methods of reproduction but when he begins practical 

 work he finds himself at sea because he tries to apply a method 

 rather than a principle ; because he knows only the books, and not 

 the life and requirements of the forest. 



A second fundamental necessity at the beginning of the in- 

 struction is that reproduction cuttings are in practice governed not 

 only by considerations of forest production but by the cost of the 



