Oxford has a college forest, Bagley Wood, 
an area of over 600 acres, within two miles 
of the university. To the school is attached 
an institute of research into the diseases of 
trees, conducted by members of the staff. An 
important contribution has recently appeared 
from this station, ‘“‘The Fungal Diseases of 
Larch,” by W. E. Hiley. Besides its regular 
courses of instruction, the Oxford School also 
offers work in special subjects, as British es- 
tate forestry, and particularly topics dealing 
with forestry in India, including botany of 
Indian trees, tropical silviculture and forest 
law. It may be of interest to mention here 
that among the textbooks used at Oxford and 
other of the British Forest Schools are two 
by American foresters: Toumey’s “Seeding 
and Planting’ and Recknagel’s ‘Working 
Plans.” 
SCHOOL OF FORESTRY 
AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 
The school of rorestry at the University of 
Cambridge is a younger institution. Instruc- 
tion was instituted in 1907, when a “Reader” 
was appointed. In English usage, unless a 
chair is endowed, this title, or that of lec- 
turer, is given the occupant, instead of pro- 
fessor. Originally the school at Cambridge 
was under a forestry committee of the Board 
of Agricultural Studies. In 1921 the two 
schools of agriculture and of forestry at 
Cambridge were placed under the Board for 
Agriculture and Forestry. There has been 
rapid developmnt in the so-called science 
group at Cambridge in recent years, several 
large buildings having only lately been com- 
pleted and occupied. The forest school build- 
ing was erected in 1913, but owing to the war 
the interior has not yet been entirely finished. 
The several rooms are panelled in different 
woods. The effect is distinctly good. The 
pbuilding is four siories high, 62 by 38 feet. 
It is designed with a view to future extension. 
A striking feature of the forest school at 
Cambridge is the extensive collection of wood 
specimens from all parts of the world. A 
large number are in the form of 5-foot planks, 
which is regarded as the standard size. This 
collection cannot fail to impress any visitor, 
for at the present time it overflows the mu- 
seum rooms and has in part to be displayed 
in parts of the building that are designed for 
other uses. Visiting Cambridge in vacation 
time, the writer was fortunate in finding Her- 
bert Stone, whose books dealing with wood 
and timber are well known in the United 
States. Mr. Stone, as special lecturer on 
foreign and domestic timbers, is in charge of 
the wood specimens collection. 
The director of the Cambridge school of 
forestry is William Dawson. Several other 
lecturers, some on part time only, complete 
the forestry staff; instruction in allied sub- 
jects like botany and entomology being 
handled by men in the college of agriculture. 
As at Oxford the course leading to the B. A. 
degree covers three years, but students may 
secure a diploma after two years. Before the 
war the diploma candidates spent six months, 
under direction, in the forests of Switzerland 
and France. At present increasing use, is be- 
ing made of the Forest of Dean, in the Mid- 
lands. Local facilities for practical work in 
the forest are provided on the Midhurst es- 
tate in Sussex. 
At present the number of students is small, 
in part as one result of the unsettled condi- 
tions following the war, and in part because 
of the uncertainty regarding opportunities for 
employment that now obtains. The income 
of the Cambridge school of forestry is strictly 
limited, about half coming in as tuition. A’ 
small grant has been made by the British 
Forestry Commission. In almost all forest 
_ Schools, in every county, the members of the 
‘staff see 
opportunities for useful service 
which they would be glad to follow up did 
funds permit. In this the English forest 
schools are no exception. ~It is planned .to 
conduct extensive work in forest research at 
Cambridge as soon as circumstances permit. 
What is now being done in that way is largely 
the result of those working in an honorary 
capacity, without salary. 
FORESTRY SCHOOLS 
IN SCOTLAND 
In Scotland there are two universities hav- 
ing departments of forestry, Edinburgh and 
Aberdeen. The former is under the director- 
ship of Prof. E. P. Stebbing, one otf whose 
books, “British Forestry,” issued during the 
war, is known to many American readers. 
That volume is mainly a plea for the practice 
of forestry in the United Kingdom, but it has 
chapters dealing with the forests of Russia 
and Siberia as potential sources of timber 
supply, that contain data that are not avail- 
able elsewhere. The writer of this letter was 
unable to visit the University of Edinburgh. 
He regrets that he cannot at this time speak 
peSauately of the forestry work in progress 
there. 
The department of forestry at the Univer- 
sity of Aberdeen is a branch of that institu- 
tion that is not to be overlooked. Through 
the energetic personality of its director, P. 
Leslie, it has developed rapidly and become a 
decided factor in forestry in Scotland. To Mr. 
Leslie belongs as well much of the credit of 
establishing and getting under way the large 
forest nursery at Craibstone, since taken over 
by the British Forestry Commission, of which 
mention was made in the first letter of this 
series. In 1920 Mr. Leslie made a rather ex- 
tended tour in Canada and the United States. 
He may therefore be personally known to 
some of the readers of this article. 
Under present conditions the department 
of forestry at Aberdeen is content to offer 
what we in America should call an undergrad- 
uate course in forestry, that is, one that does 
not carry the students through advanced 
work, as do Oxford and Cambridge. For this 
reason Aberdeen looks more kindly on the 
proposals for a central institution for gradu- 
ate work in forestry than do several of the 
other forest schools. The department of for- 
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