THE ENGLISH FORESTER 325 



much benefit from a little theoretical coaching from the 

 forester under whom he is employed, assuming that that 

 individual is capable of giving it. By the time he is seven- 

 teen or eighteen he should become acquainted with the use 

 of the axe, saw, hand-bill, and any other tools used in woods 

 or wood-work. He should also get an insight into the 

 measuring of timber, the setting out of drains, the principles 

 of road construction, the theory of forming plantations, and 

 the thinning of woods all of which he can pick up with 

 the aid of ordinary intelligence and observation. 



After undergoing a training of this kind until he is 

 eighteen or nineteen years of age, he should be able to judge 

 as to his fondness for the work or otherwise. If the work 

 goes against the grain, he had better, to use a common ex- 

 pression, " chuck it up " at once, for English forestry does 

 not make capitalists, Trust directors, or any positions of that 

 kind. But if his occupation is as much a source of pleasure 

 as a provider of drudgery or hard work, he will, in all 

 probability, find the life has other advantages than can be 

 seen on the surface, or which are apparent to the outsider. 

 The phases of the various seasons, the natural phenomena 

 which are constantly cropping up before his eyes, and the 

 observations on trees, plants, birds, insects, and all forms of 

 life generally, will convert him into a naturalist, and which 

 will compensate him for the loss of many advantages he 

 might derive from following other walks in life. If, then, he 

 feels that the work satisfies all those ambitions he is likely 

 to acquire in the course of life, he may take it for granted 

 that English forestry is the right occupation for him. 



Now comes a period during which he ought to acquire 

 touch with those sciences which have already been referred 

 to. To do this, he cannot do better than attend one of 

 those centres, in various parts of England, at which these 

 sciences are taught with more or less thoroughness. The 

 choice of such a centre should be guided by the facilities it 

 also affords for attending a course of lectures on advanced 

 forestry. At the present time there are at least two or three 

 such centres in England or Scotland, and a six or twelve 

 months' course at one of these will prove of inestimable 

 advantage to him in after-life. 



