ing of subordinate officers in the service. 
One rather interesting personal touch in con- 
nection with the personnel of the French Forest 
Service is that it seems to be the custom for 
some at least of the conservators to have their 
offices in their residences. Whether this is a 
matter of choice or of necessity because of lim- 
ited appropriations, the writer does not know, 
but it seems to be the usual arrangement. 
There is splendid esprit de corps in the 
French Forest Service. Notwithstanding the 
low salary scale it is very seldom indeed that a 
forester resigns to engage in other work. From 
personal experience the writer of this letter can 
bear testimony to the keen interest which the 
French foresters have in their profession, and 
to their sense of responsibility for the work 
under their charge. He also wishes to add that 
the courtesy of the French foresters is no mere 
outward formality. All those whom he met 
were uniformly willing in every way to assist 
him to obtain the information which he sought. 
To one who comes properly introduced the free 
masonry of forestry opens doors quite as quickly 
in France as it does in any other country. 
CONCLUSIONS 
AND LESSONS 
No American with an understanding of the 
need and purpose of: foresty in the life of a 
nation can visit the forests of France without 
being impressed with the efficiency with which 
the French are handling their forest resources. 
But one who looks deeper is not slow in see- 
ing that the French people in their conserva- 
tion of the forest and in their complete use of 
all its products have established their system 
on a principle both correct and fundamental. 
Even under the stress of the most urgent de- 
mands of the war when the enemy was almost 
at the gates of Paris, the French insisted the 
operations in the forest should be done syste- 
matically and with due regard for the future. 
A nation that, under the utmost stress of imme- 
diate necessity, can adhere to a program it 
knows is best in the long run, commands our 
attention. 
Further, when the people of that nation, 
although highly individualistic and quite as 
keen about the rights of property as are we 
Americans, are willing for practically a century 
to submit themselves to as drastic a law as is 
the French Code Forestiere, it means that they 
have come to a full realization of the vital 
importance of forests in the economic life of a 
country. Fortunately we in America have not 
yet felt the pinch that in the years gone by 
compelled France to follow the course adopted. 
But the same natural laws that governed in 
France are in operation with us. We may not 
need to copy French methods, but if we are 
wise we in the United States shall profit by 
French experience. With the example before 
us of what France has had to do to recover 
from mistakes of the past, we shall indeed be 
recreant if we do not set our own house in 
order while there yet is time. 
It behooves all those who have at heart the 
permanent welfare of our own forest resources 
to study the history of foresty in France. 
(32) 
