102 Our Field and Forest Trees 



fences which keep cattle from straying in or out 

 are in repair. 



The service also cuts fire lines through the 

 woods, makes roads and trails, and puts up tele- 

 phone lines, for there must be quick and easy 

 methods of communication and travel if fire is to 

 be kept down. 



Of course duties so many and various could 

 never be undertaken, still less done, without organ- 

 ization. The work of the forest service is graded 

 like that of an army. 



At the head of every national forest is the Super- 

 visor. He takes charge of all the business of that 

 particular forest. He manages, in fact, a public 

 estate worth millions of dollars. Hence, he must 

 have business ability. Moreover, he must be 

 familiar with the country around his own forest, 

 and he must know the men under him, their char- 

 acter, and the sort of work they are doing. He 

 must be able to manage men and to deal with all 

 sorts of people. He must have a good working 

 knowledge of timber and lumbering, must know 

 the best near markets for lumber, and the mining 

 and land laws of the state in which his forest lies. 

 He must be sound in body, and fit to endure a 

 strenuous outdoor life. It is thought desirable 

 that he should be a college graduate, and, further- 

 more, he must have taken a special course of train- 

 ing devised to fit men for the forest service. 



Immediately under the supervisor, each forest 



