Standardisation of Instruction. 381 



ciples of silviculture as are financially justifiable. Furthermore, 

 increasing timber sales and exploitation of timber on the national 

 forests make it desirable that foresters entering the national ser- 

 vice be able to analyze accurately the efficiency and cost of 

 logging and milling methods, and determine the financial effect of 

 modifications of existing methods of operation, desirable from 

 the silvicultural point of view. 



The logging business is distinctly an engineering problem since 

 it is concerned principally with the transportation of the raw 

 product of the forest to the manufacturing center. Therefore, 

 carefully selected instruction in engineering should form the 

 foundation upon which subsequent instruction in lumbering is 

 placed. It is obviously impossible for the student of forestry 

 with the limited time at his disposal to attempt to digest the 

 numerous difficult theoretical principles and methods essential to 

 the expert engineer. Fortunately, an intensive engineering train- 

 ing is not indispensable in handling most problems in logging. 

 Rough methods of transportation and construction adapted to 

 conditions which exist in 4he woods do not require in most cases 

 elaborate technical calculations of a fine degree of accuracy, but 

 are dependent upon low cost secured by rapid and approximate 

 methods. Occasional problems of unusual difficulty, requiring 

 complicated types of construction and equipment, are solved by 

 securing the advice of an expert engineer. 



It is well to emphasize what it is possible to accomplish in a 

 course in lumbering at a forest school. Many practical lumber- 

 men are accustomed to look askance at forestry education because 

 in their belief it is impossible to substitute a school training for 

 practical experience. The pressure brought upon the schools to 

 make the course in lumbering "practical" has some times created 

 a tendency to emphasize particular methods rather than principles. 

 Even foresters have fallen into the mistake of expecting from 

 recent graduates of forest schools a knowledge of lumbering 

 which it is absolutely impossible to acquire except by practical 

 business experience. The principles of teaching lumbering are 

 essentially not different from those in other branches of engineer- 

 ing. Theoretical and practical instruction is given in the school, 

 but the graduate is expected to pass through an apprenticeship in 

 which he works under direction until he has acquired that ex- 



