2 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



its practical value to us, and our duty toward it. 

 The time has arrived for the consideration of a 

 number of important practical questions. The 

 amount of exact zoological knowledge that has been 

 accumulated in our libraries and museums is enor- 

 mous. A vast amount of that knowledge is as yet 

 undigested, and much of it seems useless. The 

 academic cabinet naturalist has his place in nature, 

 but the need of the hour is for the economic zoolo- 

 gist, who can help the producer of crops and the 

 consumer of products to combat the insect world 

 and reduce the appalling cost of living. On this 

 point I feel so strongly that perhaps I am in danger 

 of becoming tiresomely practical; but those who 

 look most deeply into our annual losses in cereal 

 crops, fruit, forests and timber will appreciate my 

 point of view. 



We will endeavor to avoid the discussion of aca- 

 demic questions, because the business of conserva- 

 tion is replete with urgent practical demands. It 

 is my desire to offer to the Yale Forest School a 

 foundation on which may be erected a structure of 

 useful knowledge pertaining to the extermination 

 and preservation of the wild life of North America. 



To-day it is the way of the world to expect the 

 man who has been educated in a great university to 

 be an encyclopaedia of information, and a very 

 present help in time of trouble. Especially is this 

 the case in matters pertaining to conservation. 

 Noblesse oblige! The graduates of the forestry 



