1899. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



157 



work which requires them. The Gen- 

 eral Land Office, to which is intrusted 

 the administration of the National for- 

 est reserves, has this year an appropria- 

 tion of $175,000 for the care and pro- 

 tection of forty-five million acres of forest 

 reserves. At present it employs no 

 trained men at all, but in view of the 

 vital importance of forest preservation, 

 especially in the West, and of the great 

 and growing public interest in its ex- 

 tension, this system of political appoint- 

 ment cannot be expected to last. 



The Division of Forestry, which is 

 charged with the general progress of 

 forestry and the interests of private for- 

 est lands, in the subdivision of the Gov- 

 ernment's forest work, is at this moment 

 unable to find suitable trained men, 

 enough to supply its needs. It would 

 be easily possible, it is true, to secure 

 Germans or other foreigners, but a con- 

 siderable experience has convinced me 

 that, except in rare cases, such as that 

 of the present forester to the Biltmore 

 Estate, the attempt to use foreign-born 

 men trained abroad is not likely to suc- 

 ceed. 



COMPENSATION. 



The second question asked by the 

 prospective forester very often relates to 

 the rate of pay. I cannot answer this 

 question any more accurately than by 

 saying that trained foresters now receive 

 about the same rate of pay as instruc- 

 tors and professors at Yale. Those in 

 the employ of the Division of Forestry 

 receive from $1,000 to $2,500 a year. 

 Scientific work under the Government 

 is always underpaid, and it is most prob- 

 able that those foresters who enter the 

 service of lumber companies or other 

 commercial organizations will fare better. 

 It is even possible that a few men may 

 develop such skill that they will be called 

 in consultation over difficult problems. 

 Such work will naturally pay well. 



As with teaching, so with forestry ; by 

 no means all the compensation comes in 

 the form of dollars. While the life of 

 the forester in the field is often rough, 

 many times exceedingly hard, and always 



MAGNIFICENT ELMS ON THE PUBLIC GREEN, 

 NEW HAVEN. 



without most of the comforts of life, it 

 is to those of us who have been follow- 

 ing it the most delightful of occupations. 

 Briefly stated, it deals, on the scientific 

 side, with the life-history of forests and 

 forest trees, with their behavior in health 

 and disease, their reaction under treat- 

 ment, and their adaptation to and effect 

 upon their surroundings. On the eco- 

 nomic side, it has chiefly to do with rec- 

 onciling the perpetuation of the for- 

 est with the production of timber. 

 Measurements of the stand of timber per 

 acre, and of the rate of growth of single 

 trees and whole forests by counting rings, 

 and subsequent calculations, often form 

 a considerable part of a forester's work. 

 There is often a great deal of office work. 

 It is by no means the easy existence it 

 has often been supposed to be by the 

 many men who have taken up forestry, 

 and then have dropped it. But it has 



