i So 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



appropriation of a like amount by each 

 state that shall take advantage of its 

 provisions, and the whole amount shall 

 be expended subject to the approval of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture. This 

 would require a total appropriation 

 from the National Government of per- 

 haps $250,000, a very small amount. 

 This may be met by the statement that 

 these agricultural colleges and experi- 

 ment stations already receive something 

 over $700,000 per year from the Na- 

 tional Government. To this I would 

 reply that this expenditure has been 

 well justified by the great benefit that 

 has come to agriculture as a result of it. 

 Some single discoveries have already 

 been worth more to the country as a 

 whole than the total of all the appro- 

 priations ever made for the agricultural 

 colleges and experiment stations. This 

 money could be used for forestry, but 

 in almost every case it is largely used 

 by, and needed for other lines of agri- 

 culture. 



When we think of the enormous 

 value of the forest output of this coun- 

 try, the amount requested to educate 

 young men to be competent to take 

 care of this forest wealth seems trivial 

 indeed. I do not wish to see all the 

 agricultural colleges attempting to turn 

 out professional foresters, and such 

 would not be the effect of these pro- 

 posed expenditures ; but the result 

 would be that in a short time we would 

 have a surplus of young men well 

 trained in the basic principles of for- 

 estry, through whose efforts the forest 

 sentiment of to-day would crystallize 

 into a permanent and helpful thing. 



I have been in my present position in 

 the University of Minnesota nearly 



twenty-one years. When I came here 

 in the spring of 1888 there was not a 

 student in the agricultural depart- 

 ment; that department was maintained 

 by the state simply for the purpose of 

 getting the national appropriations for 

 this subject, and the whole work was 

 regarded with contempt by practically 

 all the citizens of the state. We have 

 to-day overcome this lack of interest. 

 Last year we had enrolled in our school, 

 college and short course in agriculture, 

 without counting students in any of the 

 other departments, and only those who 

 are required to take the agricultural 

 subjects, over 1,130 students. In that 

 time this institution has grown from a 

 position of inferiority to one of first 

 importance in helpfulness to the people 

 of the state; it is probably our most 

 popular institution of any kind, and the 

 easiest for which to secure appropria- 

 tions. The state has permanently in- 

 vested in lands and buildings for the 

 carrying on of this educational work 

 and this only, besides the general uni- 

 versity work, a total of over $700,000, 

 a result which has come from the fact 

 that we have not followed precedents 

 established elsewhere but have tried to 

 make our work as helpful as possible 

 to the people of this state. That it has 

 been found helpful is shown by the 

 large number of young men and women 

 who are doing much to bring about im- 

 proved rural conditions. I am thor- 

 oughly convinced that, by the proper 

 education of our young people in for- 

 estry, we could do as much for this sub- 

 ject as has been done for agriculture, 

 and that in no other way can forestry 

 be put upon the most helpful basis. 



