138 FORESTRY IN GERMANY. 



the title of candidate. As such he is granted a yearly remuneration in the 

 Thuringian states, while in Prussia no such compensation is made. As a 

 candidate the young forester enters what is termed the preparatory service. 

 At the end of four years (in the duchy of Meiningen, in some other states 

 only two years) the aspirant has to stand a second examination, mainly of a 

 practical nature. The admission to this second examination depends upon 

 the presentation of a larger composition on a theme pertaining to forestry, 

 which has been given to the candidate beforehand, and which he must pre- 

 pare independently and without any outside assistance. ' During the prepara- 

 tory service opportunity is offered to the young forester to acquaint himself 

 with the order of business as well as different forest districts. As a rule he is 

 not kept longer than from one to two years in the same district, and is em- 

 ployed in mountainous regions as well as upon level and hilly woodlands. 

 Although the second examination is more for the purpose of ascertaining how 

 far the candidate has during the preparatory service improved himself in 

 practice, and how far he has acquired the necessary qualifications for a future 

 administrative service, yet it also touches upon the auxiliary subjects of the 

 science of forestry, and particularly the laws of the land where he is to be 

 employed. After passing this examination the candidate acquires the right 

 to a definite position in the service of the state. 



Thus there is in this country a trained body of men devoting all their 

 energies to the advancement of the science of forestry. 



The varieties of climate and soil in the United States certainly permit the 

 growth of nearly every species of tree, and importations of many of the 

 varieties most generally cultivated in Thuringia and elsewhere would doubt- 

 less be profitable. 



A list of the principal trees which here flourish is herewith added, and 

 is as follows : Oaks {guercus pedunculata), beech {fa^us sylvaticd), ash {almis 

 glutinosd), birches {betula alba), firs (J>inus sylvestris), white pine {pirns 

 piced), larch (^pinus larix). 



The pine family and beeches prove the most profitable here. 



In conclusion I add the names of three sellers of forest seeds and shoots 

 in this district, viz. : Messrs. J. M. Helm's Sohne, in Grosstabarz ; Gebriider 

 Biichner and Carl Cropp, both in Erfurt, Thuringen. 



OSCAR BISCHOFF, 



United States Consulate, 



SoNNEBERG, March ji, 1887. 



