EDUCATION IN FORESTRY. 43 



forestry. Some have suggested the advisability of granting 110 degree at the 

 end of four years in order to provide an additional incentive for men to stay 

 through the fifth year. The creation of new degrees has also been suggested, 

 and the committee sees no objection to this if the institutions at which the work 

 is given feel that at present they have no degree sufficiently descriptive of the 

 t ruining secured to be satisfactory. 



Whatever degree may be decided on, the committee feels that men with such 

 a training as it has suggested would be qualified to handle the great bulk of 

 the problems encountered in the field of wood utilization, whether in private in- 

 dustry, in educational institutions, or in public service. At the same time it 

 recognizes the fact that there will be occasional problems requiring the services 

 of technical men in allied fields, such as mechanical engineering and organic 

 chemistry. Such problems will, however, be the exception rather than the rule. 

 In this connection the committee expresses the hope that the Forest Service 

 will encourage the development of courses along the lines indicated by giving 

 preference in civil-service examinations, through the rating of training and ex 

 perieiice, to men with the combined training suggested. 



Much hard work must be done before such courses can be satisfactorily 

 formulated and effectively given. The committee realizes only too well that 

 it has made little more than a beginning and that the suggestions which it 

 has been able to offer are far from the last word on the subject. If they 

 stimulate and point the way to further action, they will have served their 

 purpose. Comprehensive and thoroughgoing studies must still be made of the 

 precise duties and requisite qualifications of men in forest products work. 

 The particular combination of subjects best suited for the preparation of 

 such men must be determined. Innumerable practical details in the intro- 

 duction of new courses, the modification of old ones, and the construction of 

 new curricula must be worked out. This is primarily a task for the forest 

 schools. It is, however, one in which the profession as a whole can be of 

 material assistance. The committee, therefore, recommends the appointment 

 by the Society of American Foresters of a committee to continue the work 

 which it has begun. This committee, in which representatives of the forest 

 schools should, of course, play a prominent part, could render a real service 

 by conducting further investigations, making specific recommendations, and 

 cooperating with educational institutions in formulating and securing the intro- 

 duction of such curricula as may be deemed advisable. 



In conclusion, the committee desires to emphasize the following points: 



1. That there is a very large and as yet undeveloped field for the employ- 

 ment of technically trained men in the utilization of forest products. 



2. That these men should have a thorough fundamental training in mathe- 

 matics, physics, chemistry, and botany as a basis for later specialization in any 

 given line, together with sufficient forestry to give them the forester's point 

 of view. 



3. That the special four-year curricula suggested should, if possible, be pre- 

 ceded by collegiate work in the liberal arts and followed by graduate work in 

 the individual's chosen field. 



4. That the forest schools, in cooperation with schools of engineering and 

 science, should take the leadership in securing the introduction of such cur- 

 ricula. 



5. That at the outset the work should be undertaken at comparatively few 

 institutions and extended later as the opportunities and demand for such 

 men become more apparent. 



