EUROPEAN STUDY FOR FORESTERS 



BY 



T. S. WOOLSEY, JR. 



Forest Assistant, Bureau of Forestry. 



WITH our insufficient forest liter- 

 ature and meagre understand- 

 ing of the subject, a short period of 

 travel may be said to be almost indis- 

 spensable to a thorough study of for- 

 est management. We have no demon- 

 stration forests and many of our for- 

 est school professors have never them- 

 selves seen European forests. To this 

 is added the fact that our young for- 

 esters are sometimes confronted by 

 problems puzzling even to an expert 

 of twenty years' experience. Other 

 countries have set us an example 

 which may be well followed. Japanese 

 forest students are to be found in Ger- 

 many, France, and in India. English 

 students from Coopers Hill formerly 

 spent six weeks on tour in Germany 

 and a few weeks in France ; recently 

 eight months' detailed work under a 

 German forester has been added to the 

 educational requirements. German 

 students, it is true, seldom study out- 

 side their own states. Each state has 

 its own particular method, long estab- 

 lished, and they have not so much need 

 of foreign study. At their schools 

 during good weather, the Saturdays 

 are usually spent in the forests of the 

 different districts. Yet one of the 

 foremost German professors told me 

 that he had learned a great deal, both 

 in India and Japan. If a German pro- 

 fessor finds such trips worth while, 

 how much more valuable would they 

 be to the American forester? 



Granted that American foresters 

 recognize the necessity for study 

 abroad, why is it that so few are go- 

 ing? Of the forest school graduates 

 .now in the employ of the United 

 States Bureau of Forestry, there are 

 only a few who have had European 

 training. There are three chief rea- 

 sons: (i) The present number of 

 trained men is insufficient to properly 



handle the work. The demand for 

 trained foresters is greater than the 

 supply. In a few years this shortage 

 will be supplied by the new men pour- 

 ing out from the schools. There will 

 then be greater competition and only 

 the well trained men will secure 'em- 

 ployment. This will naturally lead to 

 a more thorough preparation by Euro- 

 pean study. (2) At present the de- 

 sire to begin work as soon as possible 

 and hence partake in the early ad- 

 vancement undoubtedly prevents some 

 men from studying abroad. The fact 

 that the right sort of study abroad will 

 make better all-around foresters ought 

 to deter men from such a view. It 

 is quite within the power of govern- 

 ment and state management to count 

 time spent in European study as actual 

 service. This is not unfair, and is the 

 method of the more advanced univer- 

 sities. If the ability of two men is 

 equal and one spends time in practical 

 work, which the other puts into study- 

 ing new methods, the employer would 

 probably get better results from the 

 latter of the two men in the long run. 

 (3) Want of funds is perhaps one of 

 the greatest hindrances. Under the 

 present rules a man must consider loss 

 of salary while on leave, as well as 

 his extra expenses, and in addition to 

 this a lower salary due to deferred 

 promotion, owing to absence. At pres- 

 ent the leave of members of the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry is wiped out at the 

 end of each fiscal year. In the Philip- 

 pine Bureau, leave is cumulative up 

 to three years. With this privilege in 

 the United States (applicable only to 

 leave taken for purposes of study ) a 

 man could spend three months in Ger- 

 many drawing full pay which would 

 almost pay for his trip. In time it 

 might even be possible for men to be 

 sent abroad on a collaborator's salary 



