A FOREST RANGER COURSE 



275 



family which frequent thickets and berry patches from which 

 theyscold at every passer-by in an amusingly impudent man- 

 ner. The white-iris of the white-eyed vireo is quite distinct 

 in the fields, indeed much more so than the red iris of the 

 red-eyed species, and gives the bird a quizzical expression. 

 Several other species of vireos are found in the South 



and in the West and their numbers increase through Mex- 

 ico and Central America, reaching their maximum abun- 

 dance in the tropics, where the majority of the one hun- 

 dred or more species are found. Vireos are confined to the 

 New World and find their nearest relatives either with the 

 waxwings or the shrikes. 



A FOREST RANGER COURSE 

 FOR THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS 



THE Lincoln Memorial University in the Cumberland 

 Mountains at Harrogate, near Cumberland Gap, 

 Tennessee, has lately organized under the guidance 

 of Henry S. Graves, Forester of the United States, a de- 

 partment of forestry with the purpose in view of furnish- 

 ing a training suitable to the needs of farmers and other 

 owners of woodland ; one which will equip boys as rangers 

 in government, state, or private employ. 



As a forest laboratory, in which the students will do 

 their practical work, the University has secured a timber 

 tract of 2080 acres extend- 

 ing along the picturesque 

 Cumberland Mountains 

 from Cumberland Gap, 

 Tennessee, east into Vir- 

 ginia. This tract will offer 

 many problems for the 

 students to solve. At pres- 

 ent the reserve contains 

 many thousand feet of mer- 

 chantable timber, a large 

 part of which is mature 

 and will be cut as soon as 

 possible. 



No attempt will be made 

 to develop a type of fores- 

 try school comparable to 

 those in Northern Univer- 

 sities. The coursewill cover 

 one year of twelve months 

 divided into four terms of 

 three months each. Each 

 term is made a unit in itself 

 so that a student who may 

 have to drop out of the 

 course before its completion 

 will have a definite knowl- 

 edge about at least some 

 one phase of the practical 

 work which will be of use to him in securing a position. 



The largest part of the instruction will be given in the 

 forest or in connection with practical field problems. The 

 course will cover the following subjects : 



1. Elements of forestry; a class-room course, supple- 

 mented by field excursions designed to show the student 

 the fundamental needs and purposes of forestry, the rela- 

 tion of forests to water resources, the effect of forest 

 destruction, the benefits to a community in maintaining 

 forests in a productive condition, etc. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL INSTITUTE RANGERS 



A group of the boys who are learning enough forestry to give them a work- 

 ing knowledge of the proper way to handle woodlands in connection with farms 

 and also to make them eligible to places as forest rangers. 



2 . Forest botany ; an elementary course to acquaint the 

 student with the different species of trees and shrubs occur- 

 ring in the forest, and their distinguishing characteristics. 



3. Elementary field surveying, designed to train the 

 student in making simple land surveys by the use of an 

 ordinary compass, in simple levelling, etc. 



4. Forest protection, with emphasis on practical meas- 

 ures to protect forests from fire and depredations of insects. 



5. Timber cruising and mapping; a practical course 

 to train the student in determining the amount of 



standing timber on a tract, 

 to appraise its value, and 

 to record the information 

 on maps. 



6. Logging and scaling; 

 a practical course in methods 

 of logging and measuring the 

 volume of logs. 



7. Manufacturing and 

 marketing of products; a 

 course especially adapted to 

 the conditions in the South- 

 ern Appalachians. 



8. Silviculture; a course 

 dealing with the methods of 

 the care of woodlots, cutting 

 timber in a way to secure 

 natural reproduction, the 

 making of thinnings to im- 

 prove the stand, and practi- 

 cal reforestation. 



9. Forest improvements; 

 a course, principally in the 

 field, in the construction 

 of trails, telephone lines, 

 and other improvements 

 needed in forest protection, 

 and elementary work in 

 the construction of roads. 



10. Elementary land law; a brief course designed to 

 acquaint the student with the land system of the South 

 and simple land law with particular reference to titles, 

 transfers of property, contracts, etc. 



The University is fortunate in being situated as it is 

 among the mountains of northeastern Tennessee, since it 

 draws upon a fine type of men, for forest work, men who 

 are strong, active, used to the forests and mountains and 

 know how to combine their hands and minds in solving the 

 problems placed before them. 



