Education. 433 



courses. By 1897, twenty institutions — ^land grant col- 

 leges — ^had in this way introduced the subject. 



Perhaps the first attempt to present systematically a 

 whole course of technical forestry matter to a class of 

 students was a series of twelve lectures, delivered by the 

 writer, at the Massachusetts College of Agriculture in 

 1887. 



The era of professional forest schools, however, was 

 inaugurated ia 1898, when the writer organized the New 

 York State College of Forestry at Cornell University, 

 and almost simultaneously Dr. Schenck opened a pri- 

 vate school at Biltmore. 



A year later, another Forest school was opened at 

 Yale University, an endowment of the Pinchots, father 

 and sons. In 1903, the University of Michigan added a 

 professional department of forestry, and then followed a 

 real flood of educational enthusiasm, one institution after 

 another seeing the nec^sity for adding the subject as an 

 integral part to its courses. Before there were enough 

 competent men in the field, some twenty colleges or uni- 

 versities called for teachers, besides several private in- 

 stitutions. An inevitable result of this over-production 

 of forest schools and of foresters all at once must be an 

 overcrowding of the profession with mediocre men before 

 the profession is really fully established. 



Brief reference to the history of the first school, estab- 

 lished by the State of New York, may be of iaterest, as 

 exemplifying in a striking manner the political troubles 

 besetting reforms under republican conditions. But for 

 a similar occurrence in France (see p. 310), this case 

 might be unique in the history of educational institu- 

 tions. Although the school thrived almost beyond ex- 



