18 INTRODUCTION 



fortable bed, good water, stimulating companions, and pleasant scen- 

 ery and surroundings. These are naturally conducive to developing 

 one's interest in the woods. Some have read stories of forest rangers, 

 or seen rather romantic pictures of them riding about the wilderness 

 trails on horseback. 



The work of the forester may include all these attractive features, 

 but it may also mean working under the most difficult and arduous 

 conditions of cold weather, rain, snow, or excessive heat. Fighting 

 forest fires may mean working steadily for twenty hours or more 



FIG. 13. Serious and advanced stages of erosion along Little Bayou Sara in 



Louisiana. Adequate control of erosive slopes is an important part of forest 



conservation. Photo by G. H. Lentz. 



under the most trying conditions of smoke and heat, with little or 

 insufficient water and food. Timber appraisals are sometimes made 

 in winter on snowshoes, or in swamps where one is wet most of the 

 day. One must appreciate that, during an apprenticeship period of 

 several years, a young graduate forester may spend much of his time 

 in the woods far removed from the customary pleasures and surround- 

 ings of urban life. Frequently strenuous physical labor under adverse 

 conditions is required, so that a vigorous, healthy physique is desirable. 

 Fire fighting, wood chopping, construction work, trail building, sur- 

 veying, timber estimating, and logging work may require one to carry 

 a heavy pack, or burdensome instruments, up steep mountains, in 



