508 



CONSERVATION 



New Forest Assistants and Their Work 



Forty-seven young graduates of nine 

 American forest schools have just received 

 appointments as forest assistants in the 

 United States Forest Service. These men 

 have secured their appointments as a result 

 of passing the regular civil service examina- 

 tion. 



Forest assistants are men who have com- 

 pleted their preliminary training for the pro- 

 fession of forestry, as the graduates of law 

 or medicine have completed theirs, and are 

 ready to enter upon practical work. 



There is a growing interest in the pro- 

 fession of forestry now, and many young 

 men are asking how to get into it, and what 

 it promises. Gifford Pinchot, United States 

 Forester, in an address to the graduating class 

 in forestry at Harvard University this year, 

 said : 



"The Government and the country need 

 more men trained in the knowledge of for- 

 estry, and it offers opportunity to make a 

 man's life loom large and to count for much 

 among the many phases of human endeavor. 

 To be a good forester a man should com- 

 bine something of the naturalist with a good 

 deal of the business man. To know how to 

 use the forest he must be able to study it. 

 He must have, therefore, the power of ob- 

 servation, a fondness for nature, and the 

 ability to penetrate her secrets. He must be 

 resourceful, able to stand by himself, will- 

 ing to undergo the privations of rough life, 

 and capable of commanding the respect of 

 rough men, who quickly recognize virility 

 and genuineness of character, but will not 

 tolerate pretense or the assumption of supe- 

 riority. A forester should be sound in mind 

 and body, and should make the fullest col- 

 lege preparation for the service. This serv- 

 ice means a free, vigorous life in the open 

 air, and a clear, straight, fine, wholesome, 

 manly condition of life." 



Heliographs to Be Used on National Forests 



Experiments will be made during the sum- 

 mer with the standard heliographs which are 

 now used in the War Department, for signal- 

 ing on the National Forests. One of these 

 experiments will be on the Kaniksu National 

 Forest, in Idaho, and the other on the Stanis- 

 laus Forest in California. 



It is intended to discover whether these 

 instruments will be of use on National For- 

 ests to report fires or transmit other 

 messages in areas where there is no quick 

 method of communication. Easy and quick 

 communication to all parts of a forest must 

 be had if fire is to be kept down. 



For the administration and protection of 

 the 148 National Forests in nineteen states 

 and territories and Alaska, the Government 

 spent $2,526,098.02, or about one and one- 

 half cents an acre for the calendar year 1903. 



Of this amount $592,169.19 was spent for 

 permanent improvements, including the con- 

 struction of 3,400 miles of trails, 100 miles of 

 wagon roads, 3,200 miles of telephone lines, 

 and forty miles of fire lines. 



Berlin Spends $10,000,000 to Buy a Forest 



Taking the lead of all cities, American and 

 European, Berlin is spending vast amounts 

 of money in the municipalization of its out- 

 skirts, the latest proposal being to acquire for 

 $10,000,000 a great forest in the so-called 

 Spree district. This is to be developed as 

 a park and municipal water-works. Lying 

 near the city was a sandy tract of little or 

 no use. It was utilized for the disposal of 

 sewage and actually transformed into a 

 healthful and productive spot. 



The Biltmore School to Germany 



The report that the Biltmore Forestry 

 School will be discontinued with the retire- 

 ment of Dr. C. A. Schenck from the for- 

 estry department of the Biltmore estate is 

 practically confirmed by the news that Doctor 

 Schenck will establish the headquarters of 

 his new school in Germany. * * * 



The plans of Doctor Schenck for his 

 school are international in their scope. * * * 



Doctor Schenck proposes to continue his 

 forestry school, but instead of having a single 

 fixed location, his students will have the 

 range of the world's forests. It is his inten r 

 tion to locate the principal headquarters of 

 the school in Germany, near the Black 

 Forest, which is one of the most healthful 

 and attractive parts of the empire. The 

 school will be located there for six months 

 of each year, and for the rest of the year 

 will do practical work in the forests of 

 Maine, Wisconsin and eastern Tennessee. 



Doctor Schenck has been superintendent of 

 the School of Forestry for a period of about 

 fifteen years, and the school has become 

 noted through his work, as students have 

 come from all parts of the country and sev- 

 eral foreign countries as well, for courses 

 in practical instruction in the splendid Bilt- 

 more forests. * * * 



About twenty-five of his students have 

 signified their intention of continuing the 

 work under his direction, so he conceived 

 the idea of a course of practical study and 

 research in forestry work in the Black For- 

 est, with which he is thoroughly familiar. 



The Biltmore school closes on the ist of 

 November, when Doctor Schenck's relations 

 with the Biltmore estate terminate. About 

 the I5th of the 'month Doctor Schenck will 

 leave for Germany with his students. 



The scheme has found great favor with 

 the students, who see in it not only a chance 



