LESSONS FROM THE FOREST 5 



servant, is glad to efface itself and lose its identity in order that its superiors 

 may appear to better advantage and thus become more attractive. It seeks 

 not to supplant but to supplement. 



While forestry furnishes material which is of the utmost value as sup- 

 plementing many subjects, such, for example, as geography, history, botany, 

 and civics, its special place is clearly as a part of nature study and agricul- 

 ture. In the primary grades, the cultural qualities and the element of scien- 

 tific observation which enter into the study of forest conditions are of great 

 value in training young children to think clearly and observe accurately. In 

 the upper grades and the high school, forestry again appears, this time as a 

 very vital part of agriculture. The woodlot is coming more and more to be 

 recognized as an essential part of every well-organized farm, and the products 

 of the woodlot to be considered as one of the important farm crops on the same 

 basis wuth wheat and corn. From an economic standpoint, the lessons of the 

 woodlot are too significant to be omitted. May I suggest that any text-book 

 on agriculture which does not include a chapter on the woodlot is, to that 

 extent, incomplete. 



Now let us consider for a moment the advantages of the forest as a source 

 of illustrative material. The study of trees is quite common in the public 

 schools, but some times we see so many trees that we lose sight of the forest. 

 The forest should be studied as such to be of the greatest interest. It is rich 

 with interesting examples of the phenomena of plant and animal life. It 

 is as though the Book of Nature were here issued in folio sized edition, printed 

 in long primer type, for everything is built on a life-sized scale in the forest, 

 so that he that runs may read. The teacher of botany or geography who is 

 content to point out the pictures in the text-book, yet never takes the pupil 

 outdoors to see the real thing depicted by the picture, deprives the pupil of a 

 great opportunity which lies just over the brow of the hill. 



In this fact, that except in a very few localities, the forest does literally 

 lie just over the brow of the hill, lies one great advantage of forestry as a 

 supplemental part of school work. There are few regions of the United States 

 in which some forest features are not close at hand to be studied. Where 

 there is no group of trees that could be dignified with the name of forest, 

 there is at least the tree to study individually. Even in the most crowded 

 city, there are parks to be visited, and I am glad to note the increasing ten- 

 dency to at least simulate natural forest conditions in these parks and to 

 break away from the stiff artificiality which has been characteristic of city 

 squares and parks hitherto. Even the treeless regions of the western plains 

 furnish ground for the solution of one great problem of the forest that of 

 afforestation, or tree planting with a view to producing forests. 



Again, the teacher who wishes to study the forest, or to make use of the 

 illustrative material which it furnishes, need not wait upon the seasons the 

 forest is always ready to be studied ; it is never out of season. The tree, unlike 

 the flowers or vegetables studied in school gardens and otherwise, does not 

 disappear during the winter. On the contrary, a great many of the most 

 interesting phases of tree life and forest conditions can be studied best in the 

 winter, just at the season when most other forms of plant life are unavailable. 

 This applies especially to the winter buds and protective coverings of the 

 trees, their forms and branchings. 



But the forest does not rest its claims for recognition as a candidate for 

 educational consideration upon its botanic importance alone. It also begs to 

 present itself as worthy of consideration from an economic standpoint. The 

 products of the forest enter largely into the commercial life of the nation. Every- 

 where, despite the disastrous experience of Mother Eve, the fruit of the tree is 

 being constantly partaken of by the sons of men. A thousand articles of 



