PREFACE 



A KNOWLEDGE of theoretical forestry is as indispensable to 

 I American forest student as it is to the man of any other 

 luntry who may adopt forestry as his profession. But to be 

 ,eful such knowledge must be applied with judgment. The 

 ire theory of forestry needs for its unfolding and embodiment 

 editions which are likewise theoretically perfect. The skill 



the trained forester consists not in the mere apphcation of a 

 rmula, but in mochfying what is ideally correct into what 



practically desirable. As in every other sphere of human 

 ideavor, what is actually possible in the practice of forestry 

 fifers very widely from what ought to be possible, but is not. 

 iccessful practice, in the large, is never theoretically perfect, 

 id this is most emphatically true in the lands where forestry 



new. 



American foresters have very much to learn from the in- 

 nsive methods of forest management and forest production 

 I the Continent of Europe, and particularly in France, Ger- 

 any, Austria, and Switzerland. Here the fundamental prin- 

 Dles of theoretical forestry may best be studied, and the best 

 amples of their application to conditions on the ground are 

 ost readily examined. 



In his effort to ascertain how best to harmonize the search 

 r perfection with the successful achievement of practical 

 suits, there is no guide so valuable to the forester as the ex- 

 rience of others under conditions which are at least partially 

 nilar. But the experience of others can serve us as a model 

 ily when the work done rests on knowledge so pertinent and 

 ill so sure that their combined effect results in elasticity and 

 (Idness in fitting means to ends; otherwise the lessons to be 



