168 REPORT OF THB FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



engineering, putting the men through practical work in road, bridge and tele- 

 phone construction and will work them in actual logging and milling operations 

 enough to give them a good working knowledge oi our present methods of 

 logging and lumbering. The results obtained by our efforts to give a two-year 

 course have not been just what we had hoped. Too large a proportion of the 

 men coming in for the two-year course come from cities and villages, and in the 

 two years it has been necessary to encroach somewhat upon theoretical phases of 

 the work and the result has been, in a way, to make the men half-trained for- 

 esters and not well trained woodsmen. The ideal, in a sense, is to have a school 

 into which men who have had from one to ten years' experience in the woods 

 may go, and by getting more of engineering and learning the species- and struc- 

 ture of timber somewhat make themselves of greater value to lumbermen. We 

 cannot take boys from New York City or from other large towns in the State 

 and in a year's time make them good guards and rangers. However, I think our 

 move to cut the work to one year and make it much more practical is a step in the 

 right direction." 



The Subjects in the Ranger School Curriculum and the Relative Weight 



OF Each. 



From what has preceded it appears that the subjects embraced in the ranger 

 school curriculum, the method of treatment and the relative weight of each 

 should vary widely in accordance with the local requirements which the student 

 must be prepared to meet in actual practice after the completion of his course. 

 A fixed standard is, therefore, neither desirable nor necessary. Although a course 

 of study with specific recommendations as to the subjects taught, the method of 

 treatment and the relative weight of each cannot be formulated, it is possible to 

 classify all ranger school instruction under the following three heads: 



I. Fundamental subjects. 

 ! II. Secondary subjects. 



III. Special subjects. 



Fundamental Subjects : — 



The fundamental subjects are those essential in ranger school instruction in 

 all parts of the country and should not, therefore, be eliminated from the curricu- 

 lum of any school. They form the foundation which gives facility in the carrying 

 out of correct methods in the caring for and harvesting of timber. These sub- 

 jects are as follows: 



a. Fire protection. 



(The organization and equipment of patrol; outlook stations and other pro- 

 tective places, including suitable provisions for all preventive measures ; methods, 

 equipment and organization for fighting forest fires; disposal of logging slash; 

 fire laws.) 



b. Forest engineering. 



(The construction and maintenance of ordinary forest improvements, with 

 special reference to fire protection ; such as roads, trails, bridges, telephone' lines, 

 cabins, lookout towers and fire breaks.) 



c. Surveying. 



(Use of compass, transit, chain, stadia and level; rough surveys by pacing 

 and pocket compass ; land surveys by compass and chain, and transit and stadia ; 



