CANADIAN FOBESTET ASSOCIATION. 25 



the part it may play in making a forest survey of the Crown Lands of the 

 Province, instruction in these subjects should even take precedence over 

 some of the studies classed as purely theoretical. I believe in the latter 

 as strongly as anyone, but we cannot let the young Forester fail because he 

 does not know the practical things. In addition to cruising and making 

 topographic maps, the student should also be able to "ride, pack and shoot, 

 and cook over an open fire." As one man from the Forest Service who had 

 experience in handling "tenderfeet" in the west expressed it, "they should 

 be able to take care of themselves in the woods without a dry nurse." To 

 meet this demand for practical training some of the larger schools are put- 

 ting in construction 'courses in the making of roads, trails, and telephone 

 lines, and are having expert packers come and give demonstrations in pack- 

 ing a camping outfit for the trail. Here, in this Province, with our excel- 

 lent guides, it would be easy to give similar training to our students. 



According to Professor Graves, of Yale, there is a danger that in our 

 anxiety to prepare men for practical work in the subjects mentioned we 

 restrict it to just what they need to-day in order to hold a position. In his 

 opinion we are not training men for the present at all, but for ten years 

 from to-day. While the crying need may be for men to do cruising and 

 mapping, the training must be broader than that in all forestry subjects, 

 especially in Silviculture, upon which the whole science of Forestry rests. 

 This knowledge only comes from a careful study of the* needs and repro- 

 duction of species and is the part which the lumberman is apt to overlook. 

 It was the general opinion of the conference that in preparing men for 

 lumbering, we should leave out very little of the regular Forestry course, 

 and in no case lose sight of Silviculture. 



To secure the proper balance between these two things what the men 

 need now and what they will need ten years hence this is the problem 

 which confronts one trying to build up a Forestry course in a lumbering 

 region like New Brunswick. And upon its proper solution depends not 

 only his success or failure and that of his students, but, in a degree, the 

 cause which he represents. Lumbermen, practical men such as are gath- 

 ered here at this Convention, will ask the Forester, "What equivalent can 

 you render for the salary you receive?" In the light of this question, the 

 teacher who has presented nothing but theories of forestry, no matter how 

 beautiful they may have been or how finely illustrated, naturally fails in 

 his mission to the present, while the man who taught less Silviculture and 

 more Lumbering may succeed an obvious injustice so far as the principles 

 of true Forestry are concerned. We will not attempt to answer the ques- 

 tion, as each must work it out for himself in his own way. We would re- 

 mind you, however, that the most notable examples of those who have 

 made the greatest success which is not always what the world counts suc- 

 cess are those who have had "the long distance vision," and have 

 wrought, not selfishly for themselves, but for the good of future genera- 

 tions. To them, after all, we owe whatever advancement has come in 

 Forestry or other reforms. 



