Forest Fires and their Prevextiox. 39 



fumisli sufficient area in woods to give practical work in forest man- 

 agement. Xearly all Xortli Carolina farms contain a large proportion 

 of woodland, and it is as important for farmers to know how the yield 

 may be increased on this as on the cleared land. 



FORESTRY IX THE COLLEGES. 



In order to bring this important problem before the young men who 

 are yearly leaving our higher institutions of learning to take part in 

 the management of the State, courses in Forestry should be given in all 

 our colleges and in the State University. Complete courses are not re- 

 quired, but enough should be taught to give the students some idea of 

 the forest problems that confront us and the best way to deal with them. 

 In the A. & M. Colleges more complete instruction should be given; 

 courses calculated to give the student a knowledge of how to manage 

 a wood-lot, how to measure and sell standing timber and log it if neces- 

 sary, how to protect the forest from fire and insects, what trees to plant 

 and hoAv, when, and where they should be planted. According to the 

 President of the A. t^- M. College, who would be glad to add a course in 

 Forestry to the curriculum, only one additional man would be required 

 for this purpose. The same is true of the State University. Courses in 

 Botany, Entomology, and Engineering are now given at both institu- 

 tions. By adapting such courses to the needs of the forester and then 

 founding a Chair of Forestry proper, which would include silviculture, 

 forest management, and lumbering, an excellent course in Forestry 

 could be given. Funds for the foundation of such a chair, however, are 

 not available at either place, and probably will not be until a more gen- 

 eral demand for such a course is made. The timber crop is second only 

 in importance to the cotton crop in Xorth Carolina, and most farmers 

 have a larger acreage in woodland than in all other crops combined. It 

 seems, therefore, that more recognition should be given this subject in 

 our State Agricultural College, as well as in the State University. 



LECTURES AT FARMERS* IXSTITI'TES, ETC. 



It is not only through the Farm Schools and the A. k M. College that 

 the State is trying to teach the farmer improved methods. For several 

 years past it has been sending experts to all the counties of the State to 

 lecture on improved methods of farming, from soil improvement to 

 poultry-keeping. The timber crop is the only subject that has been en- 

 tirely omitted from the list of subjects discussed. A talk on forest man- 

 agement or forest protection should be included in every program, for 

 the subject is of the greatest importance to most farmers. Latterly the 



