816 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



and the quantity of each used during an average year: 



Birch 353,000 feet 



Maple 147,000 ' 



Willow 56,170 " 



Hickory 40,000 ' 



Yucca 39.8oo ' 



Lancewood 30,000 



Rosewood 10,000 " 



Cherry 10,000 " 



Total 686,080 " 



The birch, maple, hickory, lancewood, rosewood, and 



cherry in this list are made into crutches ; yucca is used 



for surgeons' splints, while the willow and basswood go 



to the limb makers. Perhaps some of the hickory is 



used for small pins in ankle and knee joints. Some 



manufacturers attach ligaments and springs to such pins. 



(Editor's Note: American Forestry Magazine is indebted to 

 the Hanger Artificial Limb Company, of Washington, for many 

 of the illustrations in this article.) 





THE NATIONAL ARMY AND TRAINING IN FORESTRY 



BY JAMES W. TOUMEY, DIRECTOR YALE FOREST SCHOOL 



IN THE rapid industrial progress of the United States 

 during the past half century there has been an in- 

 creased appreciation of the necessity for forest man- 

 agement if wood supplies are to be maintained in adequate 

 amount for our future needs and vast areas of our non- 

 agricultural lands be kept in productive condition instead 

 of becoming areas of desolation and waste. Without 

 scientific management woodlands rapidly deteriorate and 

 lose their productive capacity, so much so that the yield 

 of useful materials from them is reduced to one-third or 

 even one-quarter that which they are capable of produc- 

 ing when well organized and managed. 



The forests of the country embrace approximately 550 

 million acres or about 29 per cent of the total area. In 

 order that the wood supply of the future may be adequate 

 for our needs all of this vast area, with the exception of 

 the comparatively small part capable of development for 

 agricultural use must be maintained in forest and organ- 

 ized for protection and permanent economic management. 

 Although the progress made by the U. S. Forest Service, 

 the forestry departments of the several states, educational 

 institutions for training in forestry and local forestry 

 organizations has been considerable in recent years, as 

 yet only a beginning has been made and we have a long 

 way to go before there is at large a real appreciation of 

 forestry and the need for its application on our absolute 

 forest land, which is one of our great basic resources if 

 this land is maintained in reasonable productivity and 

 continues to perform its just function in our economic 

 development. 



Not only is there great present need for a wider 

 knowledge of forestry and its application by those living 

 on the land, due to the necessity for insuring a necessary 

 future supply of wood but due also to the importance 

 of vast supplies of timber in national defense. The 

 world war has shown more clearly than ever before the 

 dependence of modern warfare upon timber. The for- 

 est capital of France has been of prime importance in 

 the defeat of the Central Powers. Modern war is a 

 conflict between national resources brought into use by 

 the contending armies. The country without these re- 

 sources, of which wood is one, is defeated before the bat- 

 tle is begun. 



The great and far reaching opportunity presented for 

 industrial and technical education in the American army 

 during the long period that must necessarily ensue be- 



tween the declaration of peace and re-embarkation must 

 be utilized to its fullest extent. The plan now in progress 

 of organization under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. 

 is in the hands of a commission in whom the American 

 people have the highest confidence. It is the function of 

 this commission, assisted by eminent educators, to de- 

 termine the character and extent of the facilities placed 

 at the disposal of the soldiers of the American Army in 

 France. In providing the facilities for education in the 

 army forestry training should be given a conspicuous 

 place. 



In all probability when peace terms are signed there 

 will be an American army in France of one and one-half 

 million men or more. It will likely take many months 

 to return these men to this country and fit them into 

 industrial and other work. Of this number between five 

 and six hundred thousand were recruited from the 

 land, where they were engaged in the production of farm 

 and forest crops and likely will want to return to the 

 land after the war. Most of these men have some knowl- 

 edge of agriculture but few have a real appreciation of 

 forestry and the possibilities of its development in their 

 own communities. It is believed if educational facilities 

 in forestry are approved a considerable proportion of 

 the army recruited from the land will avail themselves of 

 the opportunity to gain a knowledge of the subject ade- 

 quate to apply its principles to the future management of 

 the woodlands in their respective communities. In the 

 writer's judgment no equal opportunity has heretofore 

 arisen to stimulate the practice of forestry in this country. 



The inquiry naturally arises if forestry education is 

 provided for those members of the National Army that 

 desire it during the period between the declaration of 

 peace and re-embarkation, can the instructon be made of 

 such a nature when given in France that it can be applied 

 in this country and be of real use to the returning sol- 

 diers? It is believed that the instruction in forestry 

 should be definitely organized and for the greater portion 

 of the soldiers electing this study, it should center in 

 silviculture, namely, the methods of handling the forest 

 in order to attain successful natural or artificial regenera- 

 tion and the improvement of the stand through the vari- 

 ous methods which add to the quality or yield of the 

 product. Emphasis should be placed upon forest pro- 

 tection and there should be a course of lectures upon the 

 place of forestry in our national life and in our economic 



