MEASURING THE FOREST CROP 113 



of actually measuring a certain portion of the trees 

 requires no large amount of woods experience. Hence 

 if the young students know their trees, they can be used 

 to advantage in a party under an experienced compass 

 man and forester. 



Life in one of those camps is strenuous and the 

 boys come out in the autumn trained and toughened by 

 their work with tall stories about the mountains they 

 climbed and the game and wonderful forests they have 

 seen. There is a peculiar charm about work of any 

 kind in the woods and the remarkable part of the effect 

 of the forest is that it is largely unconscious. Before 

 a student of forestry can be considered a real forester, 

 he must acquire the ability to judge distance and 

 diameters, and be able to travel the forest by day or 

 night, to make a good camp and to cook, and above 

 all the powers of observation must be cultivated, and 

 the best place to acquire these characteristics is in the 

 woods. The remarkable thing about a summer in the 

 woods is that happy-go-lucky youngsters go in and 

 tanned, sturdy, self-reliant young men come out. Daily 

 contact with the primeval forest has endowed them 

 with the sturdy qualities which it possesses. Up at 

 daylight and out on the line for nine hours a day 

 and a four-to-five-mile hike back to the main camp. 

 This is the daily routine that puts muscle on young 

 frames, toughens the mental fiber, and develops endur- 

 ance. Perhaps the day's work is finished too far away 

 to return, then a "pup tent" and blankets and grub 

 are carried and the day's work is done with pack on 

 back. Out in the forest at night with the wind blowing 

 softly through the trees and the fresh moist air laden 

 with the woodsy odors those are the nights to be long 

 remembered. 



