STUDY IN EUROPE FOR AMERICAN FOREST STUDENTS. 



he knows of the practice and development 

 of forestry abroad, the better equipped 

 will he be for his work. 



Three questions are likely to present 

 themselves to the forest student who has 

 decided to supplement in Europe the course 

 of study which he has followed here : 

 where to go, how long to stay, and the 

 pi-obable cost of the undertaking. 



Those who have been well grounded at 

 a forest school and have seen something of 

 American forests and American lumber- 

 ing, can gain much from a year abroad. 

 Those who wish to follow to the end a 

 particular line of investigation may use 

 two or three years to advantage, but for 

 the usual purpose of the forest student, one 

 year will suffice. The right man, equipped 

 with a good knowledge of German and a 

 carefully considered plan of campaign, can 

 gain something from a six months' stay. 

 It requires, however, a thorough prepara- 

 tory knowledge of European forest condi- 

 tions, to lend practical benefit to a shorter 

 trip. The disadvantage for the forest 

 student of flying trips to Europe can 

 scarcely be put too strongly. 



The forest student, with one year 

 abroad at his disposal, will probably find 

 it advisable to spend the first one or two 

 months, according to his requirements, on 

 one range under an English-speaking forest 

 officer. This will enable him to brush 

 up his German without loss of time, and 

 steady work in the same place for a month 

 or more will give him the insight into 

 European forestry which he needs, much 

 better than would the same period spent 

 in a cursory inspection of several ranges. 

 English-speaking forest officers are rare 

 in Europe. The Uehlingen range in the 

 Southern Black Forest, under the charge 

 of Oberforster Jager, has been the start- 

 ing point for several American students, 

 and it would be difficult to find one more 

 favorably situated or a forest officer with 

 a happier faculty for making matters clear 

 to the beginner. While at Uehlingen the 

 student will have a chance to acquaint 

 himself thoroughly with the Baden work- 

 ing plan method, which, of the several in 

 force in the German States, is the simplest, 

 the broadest, and the least unsuited to 



American forest conditions. Uehlingen 

 is within easy reach of several instructive 

 ranges, among which are Waldshut, St. 

 Blasien, andWolfsboden. The Waldshiit 

 range in the foothills of the Schwarzwald, 

 where the vineyards of the Rhine valley 

 give way first to coppice woods and then 

 to high forests of Beech and Oak, forms a 

 strong contrast in type and management 

 to Wolfsboden and St. Blasien, both moun- 

 tain ranges stocked chiefly with Silver Fir 

 and Spruce. 



His term at Uehlingen ended, the student 

 will do well to see something of Swiss for- 

 ests before he turns northward. The Sihl- 

 wald, town forest of Zurich, deservedly 

 famous for its Beech forests and the excel- 

 lence of its management, is full of interest 

 and of practical hints. There are records 

 of its systematic management since I4i7- 

 It is the only range in Europe in which all 

 its own forest produce is worked up. It 

 has a sawmill, lathes for turning tool 

 handles, a plant for impregnating paving 

 blocks and telegraph poles, and machines 

 for the shaping and bundling of fuel. No 

 raw material is sold. The Sihlwald con- 

 tains also a most ingenious and labor-saving 

 system of timber slides, firewood slides, 

 and forest railways. 



The town forest of Winterthur does not 

 contain many features from the study of 

 which Americans can gain direct practical 

 benefit. It is instructive, however, in 

 showing what exceedingly favorable local 

 conditions can do in shaping the manage- 

 ment of a forest. The well-stocked Win- 

 terthur forests, which begin within a stone's 

 throw of the town, have produced a revenue 

 of $io per acre per annum for the last thirty 

 years. They are managed with almost the 

 same care that we give to a garden, be- 

 cause through their nearness to an excel- 

 lent market the value of firewood and tim- 

 ber exceeds enormously the cost of raising 

 them. 



Whether the student sees something of 

 forest management in the Swiss Alps, or 

 in those of Bavaria or the Tyrol, will de- 

 pend upon the best economy of his time. 

 It is preferable that he should see it in 

 Switzerland, where the preservation of the 

 forests of the higher mountains is of vital 



