108 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



other subjects from the primary grades through the 

 high school. Public school training should prepare the 

 student for greater efficiency and greater success in his 

 later life. To lead the student along the road toward 

 intellectual growth is not enough. We all concede that 

 mathematics and languages are superior intellectual dis- 

 ciplines, but what folly it would be to provide the aver- 

 age public school student in rural and forest regions with 

 these alone. The chief concern of the public schools 

 should be to instill in the student respect for the vocations 

 that the community affords and to impart knowledge 

 that directly or indirectly relates to the vocation that 

 he must later follow if he remains a part of the com- 

 munity. If the public schools do not impart such knowl- 

 edge, the students on graduation are forced from neces- 

 sity to migrate to other fields where they can find an 

 occupation better fitted to their scholastic training. To 

 my mind, our public schools are largely responsible for 

 our over crowded cities and diminished rural popula- 

 tion. This is largely due to their over-emphasis of in- 

 tellectual disciplines without correlation with vocational 

 pursuits and the almost complete ignoring of locality 

 needs. They are, in reality, making many localities 

 poorer and less progressive by draining them of then- 

 brightest and most efficient boys and girls, who, after 

 leaving school are forced by the school system itself to 

 migrate to other regions. 



In many of our cities and larger towns, after the com- 

 pletion of the grammar school courses, trade schools af- 

 ford opportunity for boys and girls to fit themselves to 

 become skilled workers in various trades. To a lesser ex- 

 tent, agricultural high schools are coming into existence in 

 the Middle West, fitting boys and girls for increased ef- 

 ficiency and greater success in agricultural pursuits. Al- 

 though the forests of the country embrace 29 per cent 

 of its total area we have as yet no forestry high schools 

 where the boys who are later to labor in the woods may 

 receive instruction which will make them more efficient 

 in a vocation which may be the dominant one of their 

 community. 



Agriculture and forestry have close kinship. They 

 both have to do with the production, harvesting and 

 marketing of crops grown from the soil. They differ 

 chiefly in the length of time required for the crop to 

 mature. In most parts of the country the production of 

 farm crops and the production of wood crops go along 

 together under common ownership, as woodlots are still 

 a part of almost every farm. For this reason, I believe 

 that in most localities a part of the work of the agri- 

 cultural high school should be given to forestry. This 

 work should cover approximately twenty weeks and con- 

 sist of the following two courses : 



(a) Introduction to forestry ; 



(b) Farm forestry. 



The purpose of the first course is to give the student 

 a general knowledge of the subject and the importance 

 of forestry in the economic development of the country. 

 The latter course should be sufficiently comprehensive 



to cover all phases of forestry that relate to the produc- 

 tion and utilization of timber on the farm. 



One of the most important distinctions between agri- 

 cultural crops and farm crops lies in the profitable pro- 

 duction of forest crops on soil too poor for successful 

 agriculture. For this reason, great areas of the country, 

 possibly 20 or 25 per cent of the total area, must remain 

 forever in forest. Forest trade schools or ranger schools 

 aie as necessary in these regions as trade schools are in 

 our cities. Such schools have long been established in 

 the forest districts of Europe and should become a part 

 of the public school system in the United States wherever 

 the forest is the dominant resource and provides employ- 

 ment for a considerable percentage of the inhabitants. 



Ranger school instruction must aim to teach the art, or 

 trade, of forestry practice. The art, or trade, of fores- 

 try practice, as here used, includes all the operations in- 

 cident to the ownership and utilization of timbered 

 lands. Ranger school instruction should be localized 

 and, so far as practicable, identified with the forest 

 ownership in each locality. The place for ranger school 

 instruction is in the woods. The character and method 

 of instruction should vary with the local requirements 

 which the student must be prepared to meet after the 

 completion of his course. Therefore, a fixed standard 

 for ranger schools is neither desirable nor necessary. The 

 instructors in ranger schools should be professional 

 foresters, so that the students may acquire a sympa- 

 thetic understanding of forestry and breadth and view as 

 to its scope and aims. The final test of the instructor's 

 worth is expressed in his ability to equip his students for 

 efficient work. 



Unfortunately our educational system in forestry has 

 been developed almost entirely around the demand for 

 professionally trained men. Colleges and universities 

 vie with each other in the establishment of schools and 

 departments of forestry. We have sadly neglected the 

 teaching of forestry in our public schools where the great 

 body of our future citizens must find direction and in- 

 centive for productive labor. 



SPHAGNUM MOSS FOR SURGICAL 

 DRESSINGS 



T^HE State Forester of New Jersey, Mr. Alfred Gaskill, 

 - 1 - is co-operating with the National Surgical Dressing 

 Committee in providing sphagnum moss for the absorb- 

 ent pads devised by Dr. Alexis Carrel. 



The Committee has had considerable difficulty in secur- 

 ing moss of the proper quality, and the dressings thus 

 far made have had certain faults due to a lack of uni- 

 formity in their absorbent power. The white cedar 

 swamps of New Jersey contain an abundance of this 

 material, and it is thought that by careful selection in 

 gathering and on the drying beds a quality of moss can 

 be provided that will meet the requirements. 



Thus is the knowledge of forestry once more made 

 available to satisfy war needs. 



