16 Courses in Forestry. 



for work if I take the course in Forestry?" TJje answer to this is not 

 as easy as with regard to some other courses, for the reason that 

 forestry, the right use and care of woods, in our cojntry is in its in- 

 fancy, it is just beginning. 



Generally speaking, we may say that the woodlands of our 

 country, the field of action of our forester, cover several hundred 

 million acres; that the greater part is culled, cut and burned over; 

 that even today about eighty million people, with a most extraordinary 

 and constantly increasing consumption of wood, depend upon a judi- 

 cious use of what there is left of the old forests on these woodlands, 

 and that the most diligent care of the woods will be necessary to 

 guard against a serious disturbance in our economic relations, which 

 probably can not be avoided entirely. 



It will require the trained heads and hands of several thousand 

 good men to start the work of improving our woods, and it will require 

 the continuous effort for all time of many thousands more to continue 

 the work successfully. 



Fortunately it may be said that a general awakening to the needs 

 of better treatment of woodlands has taken place. All classes of 

 people are beginning to realize a few simple but important truths: 

 That not all land is plowland; that it is poor business to destroy a 

 forest and throw away the land when with a little care it might be 

 logged and still a valuable forest be left for future use; that it is 

 wasteful to leave the large areas (in the aggregate) of non-agriculture 

 lands in a non-productive waste-land condition. 



As a consequence of this awakening, guided and promoted especi- 

 ally by the intelligent and energetic efforts of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture in its Bureau of Forestry, hundreds of owners 

 of woodlands have of late called for the advice and assistance of men 

 trained in the right use and care of woods. That this demand for 

 help will increase is certain, and it is reasonable even to beleive that 

 quite a rapid increase of this demand may be looked for. As it is, 

 there are hundreds of estates now in charge of untrained men, who 

 are unable to provide more than mere patrol service, while the service 

 of a trained man would not cost any more and would certainly yield 

 larger returns. 



Besides the owners of estates whose lands are held for various 

 reasons, there are numerous parties engaged in dealing in timber land 

 for the purposes of direct exploitation (lumbering) or for speculation, 



