380 Forestry Quarterly. 



Forest Utilization. Lumbering. 



Of the various courses of instruction offered to the student of 

 forestry that which deals with the lumber business stands in 

 greatest need of standardization. Indeed, the success of most 

 forest schools may be said to depend largely upon the development 

 of practical and efficient instruction in this subject. The increas- 

 ing number of graduates from many forest schools, coupled with 

 the narrowing field for employment offered by the national and 

 state forest services must result inevitably in a comparatively 

 large number of foresters entering the employ of lumber com- 

 panies and other private owners of forest property. Therefore, 

 the preparation of students for effective service in privately 

 owned as well as public forests is an essential part of the curri- 

 culum of forest schools. 



With present prices of stumpage, methods of taxation, and fire 

 danger, the application of silvicultural practice to large timber 

 tracts of private owners must often be very primitive. However, 

 the necessity for studying and modifying existing methods of 

 logging and milling to secure greater economy in utilization is 

 keenly appreciated by many timberland owners and progressive 

 lumber companies. This applies not only to reduced cost of pro- 

 duction by improvement in the efficiency of labor and equipment, 

 and by the reduction of the waste of timber in the woods and mill, 

 but also to the modification of existing methods, even at a slightly 

 increased cost of production, in order to leave cut-over land in as 

 favorable a condition as possible for succeeding crops. 



Thus, in order to make his service valuable and to secure the 

 opportunity of gradually introducing principles of silviculture, 

 the forester should receive training in the forest school to enable 

 him, upon graduation, to learn readily the details of the logging 

 business and lumber manufacture. He should be able, through 

 trained powers of observation and analysis, to study the com- 

 parative efficiency of different logging methods under varying 

 natural and economic conditions, and modify existing methods to 

 secure more economical utilization. During the next decade the 

 development of forestry on private holdings will rest very largely 

 in the hands of foresters of this type, who by successful manage- 

 ment of logging operations secure the confidence of timberland 

 owners and their consent to the gradual introduction of such prin- 



