144 FORESTRY EDUCATION 



by the fact that all the available students who 

 graduated immediately prior to or during the war 

 were utilized by the Timber Supply Department 

 for special work. 



For the training of the lower executive grades, 

 courses in the Agricultural Colleges and Woodmen's 

 Schools exist. The Agricultural Colleges provide 

 courses in forestry and allied subjects on the standard 

 required by non-commissioned ranks, foresters, 'and 

 senior woodmen. For the lower ranks of woodmen, 

 thanks to the energetic action taken by the re- 

 spective Boards of Agriculture, three schools are 

 now in existence one each in England, Ireland, and 

 Scotland. The English school is situated in the 

 Forest of Dean, and has been in existence for the 

 last decade and a half. The Irish one was formed 

 several years ago ; whilst the Scottish one at Birnam 

 in Perthshire was opened last year. At these 

 schools the theoretical work in the class-room 

 is combined with the ordinary work of woodmen 

 carried out by the students in the woods, for 

 which they are paid. The purely class-room work 

 is also illustrated by practical demonstrations in 

 the woods. The course is usually a two-year one, 

 and is so designed that students who show promise 

 and reach an educational standard enabling them to 

 profit by the higher courses may ultimately proceed 

 to the agricultural and university forestry centres. 

 The existing Woodmen's Schools will require to 

 be supplemented by others situated in parts of the 

 country where blocks of woods of a sufficient area 

 still remain standing. 



