Forestry as a Profession 251 



where young men of suitable preparation may get 

 a professional training as assistants in actual for- 

 estry work, both in the field and in the office. For 

 a good many years to come, every forester trained 

 in America will find it quite an essential part of 

 his education to spend some time in the forests of 

 Central Europe ; for in this country he may see 

 beginnings of silvicultural operations, but not their 

 later progress and final results. The various agri- 

 cultural colleges, as well as some other similar in- 

 stitutions throughout the country, sometimes offer 

 courses in forestry, and a few even have professors 

 of that subject. These courses are not designed 

 to train professional foresters, nor even to give 

 that broad and comprehensive insight into forestry 

 which is striven for at Cornell for non-professional 

 students. They simply aim to teach the young 

 farmers, dairymen, and followers of similar occupa- 

 tions who attend these schools, the elements of 

 arboriculture, the relations of forests to climate 

 and waterflow, and the importance of forests in the 

 economy of the nation. Within these limits, courses 

 of this kind do a great deal of good, both by teach- 

 ing the students many things of advantage to them 

 in their agricultural work, and by spreading among 

 broad masses of the people juster notions about 

 the value of our forest resources. Many of the 

 teachers engaged in this work are men of consid- 

 erable ability, and some are doing excellent service 

 by original investigations and by their influence on 

 public opinion. The main criticism to make is 



