190 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
nection with other preliminary organization work such as 
a reconnaissance of the forest resources. 
2. The investigational stage; when there is informa- 
tion available as to the species most in need of being stud- 
ied and an actual need is felt for the results of special 
studies, although they are still intensely practical and de- 
signed so that the results will be available at once and of 
immediate application. 
3. The scientific research and experiment station 
stage; when the character and extent of the forest re- 
sources are known and many of the real forest problems 
have become apparent. Efforts are made through the use 
of delicate instruments to secure fundamental scientific 
knowledge by which the biological laws governing the for- 
ests may be better understood. 
Forest research in the United States has just recently 
reached the third stage of its development. It will become 
more and more stablized through the recently created 
Branch of Research of the U. S. Forest Service, which is 
co-ordinate with the administrative branches of the Service, 
and the Committee of the Society of American Foresters 
appointed to co-ordinate and correlate all forest investiga- 
tions conducted in the United States and Canada. 
With this rather brief discussion of research as a neces- 
sary adjunct to the actual practice of forestry your atten- 
tion will now be directed to some of the present problems 
of forestry practice which will be solved through forest 
research. The fundamental problems which underlie a 
large number of the smaller practical problems of nation- 
al forest management may be grouped as follows: 
1. Studies of the life histories of forest trees, which 
are similar to studies of the life histories of animals, insects, 
and fungi, and form the basis for the silvicultural manage- 
ment of the forests. These studies also embrace the study 
of the biological characteristics of tree seed, i. e., the source 
of seed and its viability, the relation of seed to climatic and 
physical factors, and its physiological characteristics such 
as its capacity for delayed germination, which are funda- 
mental to the regeneration of our forests, whether by arti- 
