EDUCATION IN FORESTRY. 51 



case the course of training is more concerned with technical knowledge; skills 

 are acquired in the ordinary course of the day's work. The instruction is highly 

 specialized and varies for each industry. In general, there is a place for evening 

 classes in connection with every large wood-using industrial plant. 



5. Skilled workers in tree surgery, forest nurseries, woodland and estate 

 management, city forestry, and similar positions. The type of instruction 

 varies for the position and covers both technical information and the acquiring 

 of skills. Frequently indeed the question of skills will he all important. Ordi- 

 narily such training does not involve the development of managerial ability, 

 such as is required in a foreman. A short, intensive period of training, such as 

 was developed by the War Department, will prove most successful. Alternate 

 days or weeks should he devoted to supervised practice. 



ORGANIZATION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER THE ACT OF 1917. 



The administration of the Vocational Education Act (Smith-Hughes, 1917) 

 is placed in the hands of a Federal Board of Vocational Education (which is 

 composed of seven members the Secretaries of Agriculture, Labor, and Com- 

 merce, the Commissioner of Education, and three lay members representing 

 labor, agriculture, and industry) and State boards designated by the legislative 

 bodies of the respective States. In general, the State board of education has 

 been so designated and the State superintendent of education appointed execu- 

 tive official for vocational education. In many States an assistant to the State 

 superintendent is designated director of vocational education and the respon- 

 sibility for administering the, act in the State is delegated to this official. 

 The State director is assisted by assistant directors and supervisors in the 

 various fields of vocational training. 



The requirements of the vocational educational act are: 



1. The instruction must be under public supervision and control. 



2. It must.be adapted to the needs of persons of 14 years of age and over. 



3. It must be of less than college grade. 



4. The instruction in agriculture must include six months of supervised 

 practice. 



5. The instruction in trades and industries must include one-half time de- 

 voted to practice work on a productive basis. 



According to the 1920 report of the Federal board there are at present in 

 the United States 3,155 vocational schools and departments taking advantage 

 of the provisions of the vocational education act, of which 1,375 are in agri- 

 culture, 700 in home economics, 758 in trades and industries, and 322 con- 

 tinuation. 



While the subject of forestry is not mentioned specifically in the act, the 

 interpretation of the Federal board is that productive forestry (silviculture) 

 is a part of agriculture, and forest utilization a part of the field of trades 

 and industries. Much may be judged from the basis of apportionment; if the 

 workers of the particular industry are numbered as "rural" by the United 

 States Census, the presumption is that the industry is rural in nature and 

 may be classified as agricultural. The fact 'that forestry appears in both 

 fields necessitates a discussion of the possible development of vocational for- 

 estry in each field. 



FORESTRY IN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS AND DEPARTMENTS. 



In the field of vocational agriculture the high school has been universally 

 selected as the institution best fitted for this purpose. Usually the work in 

 agriculture is organized as a department, and it is optional with the student 



