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896 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
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methods of prairie planting. But after all, thisisratherasimple 
matter and does not call for the establishment of any special school, — ; 
since the instruction necessary for a proper understanding of the © 
subject may be given ina few terms’ work in our school of agricul- 
ture and by bulletins of the experiment station. 
The problem of the proper management of our great forest 
resources is of much more importance to our state and should 
demand our most careful attention, but the price of forest products 
is so low, the profits on growing trees so small and long. delayed, _— 3 
the risk of destruction by fire is so great and the taxesontimber 
lands are so high that there seems to be every discouragement to Har 
the investment of capital in young timber with a view to its proper ~ oe 
management forincrease. These and other facts with which you ~ Sah 
are familiar make it evident that our people know little and care can. 
less about management of our forests and that until they are better wa 
informed about these most fundamental principles there is om: 
little use in attempting any but the most simple methods of 
management. These principles may consist of protection from fire 
and attention to some of the simplest methods of restocking the s 
land. The carrying out of such primitive ideas would not make a ~~ 
call for much skilled help, even if the state and all the owners of 
forest lands were convinced of its importance, which is far from 
being the case at present, and in the necessarily slow introduction Te 
of even these simple methods the owners of forests will largely do i 
their own supervision and carry on the work with their present help. 
The situation here then, in my opinion, is that there will be little ces 
callin this state for advanced education in the principles of good rey 
forestry for some years to come,and I see no need for the establish- ne 
ment of a school of forestry in this state at present,for the graduates “Fs 
of sucha school could not find profitable employment in their 
profession ; nor do I think that the needs of prairie and timber 
forestry combined require the immediate establishment of such a 
school. But while I do not think it is necessary to add another mM 
professional school to the university for instruction in forestry, I 
do think that its fundamental principles should be looked upon as 
an important part of university education, and I believe the time 
will come when asa result of enlightened ideas, of a more intense 
cultivation and the increased price of timber, the subject of forestry 
will be taught in a special school in the university—but the time is 
not ripe for it now. The evolution of this school has already begun, 
and it will advance according to the needs of the situation. For 
nine years, forestry has been taught as a separate subject in the 
school of agriculture and has had equal rank with horticulture. 
This time could now be increase1 to good advantage. In the uni- 
versity, botany, geology, zoology, entomology, physics, chemistry 
and other subjects which form an important part of the curriculum 
in forestry schools are taught; and there are offered one, two or 
three terms of special forestry studies. From this, it will be seen 
that all that is necessary to make a special school of forestry in the 
university would be the addition of more forestry studies and 
especially of better opportunities for making practical experiments 
in forestry, ' x 
