'80 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



well posted in history and economics, for if lie is to 

 occupy an executive position he should possess broad 

 vision. Mathematics of course is needed preparatory 

 to surveying; chemistry is required in order that the 

 process of plant physiology may be understood. Botany 

 and dendrology are of course essential, for a forester 

 must know his trees and shrubs and how they grow. 

 A thorough knowledge of geology, the structure of rocks, 

 the soils they make when they are weathered down by 

 the elements, is of course indispensable. Finally, a 

 forester must be familiar with the signs of insect attack 

 and fungus diseases. The forester in charge of a valu- 

 able timber tract noticing such attacks in their early 

 stages may be able to prevent enormous financial loss. 



After these preliminary subjects have been com- 

 pleted, advanced courses are taken in such subjects 

 as forest protection, forest engineering including 

 map-making, road and trail construction and forest 

 mensuration the measuring of the forest crop, etc. 

 Lumbering and forest utilization are also covered and 

 finally the science of forest management is pursued, 

 which deals with the handling of a piece of forest 

 property in a business-like way; the latter subject in- 

 cludes the financial aspects of forestry, and the reg- 

 ulation of the forest yield. It will be seen that the 

 field is broad and the time spent in college is none too 

 long to secure a thorough training in these important 

 subjects. 



Need of Practical Training, To train graduates suc- 

 cessfully a forestry school must be thorough and must 

 provide an abundance of practical work. In hardly 

 any profession, with the possible exception of medi- 

 cine, is a book-taught man with little practical expe- 



