EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION 

 ON THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. 



INSTRUCTION IN FORESTRY. 



"The distinctively State character of the University entails 

 upon it obligations in respect of all the great provincial in- 

 terests in which higher education is an important factor. This 

 is eminently true of instruction in forestry. The value to the 

 country of scientific work in forestry has been already recognized 

 upon this continent, but in Canada little has been done to apply 

 systematically the lessons taught equally by sound economic 

 theory and practical experience. It is surprising that Ontario, 

 with its rich areas of timber, has hitherto failed to set up a school 

 of forestry in its own University for the double purpose of provid- 

 ing technical training for young men in an important branch of 

 science, and of benefiting in the conservation of its forest wealth 

 by their knowledge and skill. It would be difficult to mention 

 a case in which the State's duty and interest go more com- 

 pletely hand in hand. In the United States forestry is now an 

 department of the Federal Government's service and is presided 

 over by the Hon. Gilford Pinchot, with whom the Commission 

 has held a conference. Dr. Pinchot has practically created the 

 Forestry course in Yale University, and from that fact and 

 from the knowledge required by his official position in Washing- 

 ton, he is a competent authority upon the whole question. The 

 Commission also consulted, during its visit to Ithaca, Prof. 

 Fernow, who was the founder of the School of Forestry main- 

 tained for a time by Cornell University, and who is justly 

 esteemed for his knowledge of forestry." 



"There is no doubt that a great work in forestry can be 

 done in this Province by the University, provided it receives 

 the co-operation and encouragement of the Government. The 

 Agricultural College has already provided for instruction in 

 agricultural forestry, which meets the needs of farmers with wood 

 lots to care for and develop. The larger problem is that which 

 touches the immense Crown domain urgently calling for the 

 application there of the newest discoveries in forestry and for the 

 training of skilled men to conduct experiments on a large scale 

 in order to test methods of reforestation and the conservation of 

 valuable timber. It would, in our judgment, be a lamentable 

 error if the direct value of a Forestry Department in the Univer- 

 sity to the Province in its administration of timber areas were not 

 ascertained." 



