One of the outcomes of the Empire For- 
estry Conference held in London in the sum- 
mer of 1920 was a plan to co-ordinate for- 
estry work in all parts of the empire. A 
start has been made in this direction in the 
organization in 1921 of the Empire Forestry 
Association. Further impetus will be given 
to this and related projects when the Empire 
Forestry Conference meets again in Canada 
in 1923. One part of the empire program has 
to do with forestry education. In a word it 
is proposed that there be established, prob- 
ably at Oxford, a central graduate forest 
school that shall head the system and with 
which the other forest schools of the empire, 
at home and overseas, shall co-operate. It 
is an ambitious program, but one that is jus- 
tified by the importance of the forest inter- 
ests in the many far flung lands that make up 
the British Empire. And as the proposal con- 
cerning education in forestry is as definite 
as perhaps any that has so far been made in 
the whole program, it is a matter that merits 
consideration. 
THE FOREST SCHOOLS 
OF ENGLAND 
As was indicated at the outset of this let- 
ter the British Forest Schools differ in ma- 
terial ways from those on the continent. In 
the first place there are now several of them, 
in England and Scotland. Secondly, while 
working in conjunction with the government, 
and in some cases receiving state aid, they 
are not directly under government control as 
are those on the continent, but rather, as is 
the case in the United States, branches of en- 
dowed universities. Clearly to understand 
the situation as it is today one needs to go 
back and review a little history. 
Although the United Kingdom has been 
slow about practicing public forestry at home, 
in British India the English foresters have a 
long record of honorable accomplishment. 
That service was really started by the ap- 
pointment of Dr., afterward Sir Dietrich 
Brandis as inspector general, in 1864. Under 
Brandis’ leadership the Indian Forest Service 
developed rapidly along sound lines. But 
both he and his successor, Dr., now Sir Wil- 
liam Schlich, had difficulty in securing men 
to manage the forests. Various devices were 
resorted to, including the transfer for tem- 
porary periods of young army officers to the 
forestry work. Finally the home govern- 
ment was prevailed upon to make definite 
provision for supplying trained foresters. Dr. 
Schlich returned to England and in 1885 a 
forest school was opened at Cooper’s Hill, in 
connection with the Royal Engineering Col- 
lege. This school continued to function un- 
til 1905, when it was transferred to Oxford, 
where it now forms a part of the University 
of Oxford, under the name School of For- 
estry. 
Sir William Schlich is perhaps best known 
to American foresters through the five vol- 
umes of his ‘‘Manual of Forestry,” which 25 
years ago were practically the only authori- 
tative texts on forestry in the English lan- 
" (78) 
guage. Dr. Schlich remained director of the 
forest school upon its transfer to Oxford, 
serving up to within a short time before the 
war. Subsequently he was recalled to that 
duty, and only this winter has he finally re- 
tired from aictive service, at the age of 83. 
One of the veterans of the forestry profes- 
sion, Sir William Schlich is a man whose in- 
fluence has been felt in many countries; a 
forester well deserving of the honors that 
have been conferred upon him. Although ad- 
vanced in years, he is active in body and keen- 
ly awake to the problems of the moment. No 
one on meeting him thinks of his age. Out 
of his ripe experience it is to be hoped that 
the literature of forestry may be enriched 
by additional contributions from his pen. 
SCHOOL OF FORESTRY 
AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY 
The school of forestry at the University of 
Oxford occupies a relatively small building 
consisting of lecture and class rooms and a 
museum in which the emphasis rests on col- 
lections of woods from India and other Brit- 
ish possessions. This building was provided 
by the university, and in late years, through 
privately contributed funds, a wing has been 
added, of fireproof concrete construction, in 
which are laboratories and the offices of some 
of the faculty. The present head of the school 
is Dr. R. S. Troup, also in earlier years a 
member of the Forest Service of British In- 
dia. 
The course at the Oxford school covers a 
period of three years. Graduates receive the 
degree of B. A. in agriculture and forestry. 
There is also a two-year course, on the suc- 
cessful completion of which a diploma is 
granted. Men holding the degree, or the di- 
ploma, may become candidates for appoint- 
ment, under specified conditions, in the Fu1. 
est Services of the United Kingdom, India, 
or the Crown Coionies, as opportunities offer. 
By arrangement with the Colonial Office cer- 
tain students may, after two years, become 
“probationers” for positions in forestry in the 
Crown Colonies or in India. At the present 
time opportunities for appointment at home, 
under the British Forest Service, are not par- 
ticularly good, especially since the recent re- 
port of the Geddes Economy Committee, 
which recommends against any expansion of 
the forestry program. 
Every candidate at the Oxford School of 
Forestry is required to spend six months in 
what is termed a ‘practical course.’”’ This 
period is passed in the study of the manage- 
ment of well regulated forests, im the prep- 
aration of a working plan for a small range 
and in visits to other forests, upon which a 
report is required. This work is usually done 
i orests in Ger- 
many and in,France, under the leadership of 
Dr. Schlich, and sometimes of Sir Dietri 
Brandis, formed a part of the ea 
gram. As has been Previously noted, many 
English foresters at that time also studied at 
Nancy before going out to India. 
