60 ANNUAL REPORT OF 



national forest reserves. There are now 62,000,000 acres 

 of such reserves in the Rocky Mountains and farther west, 

 and they are likely to increase. A trained forester is to 

 have charge of a range not exceeding on an average about 

 170,000 acres depending somewhat on natural bound- 

 aries at which rate there should be employment now for 

 360 foresters or chiefs of range, to manage properly the 

 present reserves. But at present there are probably not 

 more than thirty foresters in the country qualified for the 

 position. 



Forestry promises to be one of the most attractive of 

 scientific careers for young men in this country. It is a 

 profession in which the tenure will be permanent and the 

 service fairly well paid; but it will require, of course, 

 years of hard study to become qualified for the service. 

 A forester should be a good practical surveyor. He 

 should know how to measure trees and estimate their con- 

 tents, how to make a map of the forest and necessary 

 roads, how to make and execute working plans for the 

 forest and to manage the same in a way to secure a sus- 

 tained yield. Besides technical knowledge of trees and 

 tree culture, he must be acquainted with the kindred 

 sciences, such as agriculture, geology, mineralogy and 

 botany. He must know how to protect the forests from 

 the ravages of insects as well as from fire and trespass, 

 how to get rid of noxious animals and how to protect 

 valuable game. These are some of the things he must 

 know. 



Assuming that a boy had graduated at the high school, 

 he ought in four years of study and practice, one of which 

 should be a year of practice in the woods, to become a 

 fairly competent forester. With such training I think he 

 would be sure of $ i, 200 a year as a forester in the service 

 of the United States, with the prospect of rising in his 

 profession for distinguished merit. 



