estry occupies rooms in one of the main build- 
ings of the university. A feature of its work 
is the excursions taken by the students to 
various points of forest interest, especially to 
some of the privately owned estates in the 
Scottish Highlands. In common with other 
schools of like character, in all countries, the 
courses in the fundamental sciences are 
handled by the staffs of the departments con- 
cerned. In the forestry work proper Mr. Les- 
lie is assisted by two or three instructors. 
OTHER FOREST SCHOOLS IN 
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 
Instruction in forestry is also given at the 
University of Wales at Bangor and at the 
Armstrong College, University of Durham. It 
was not the privilege of the writer to visit 
either of these institutions. It is his under- 
standing that they are organized more as is 
Aberdeen, giving work that does not lead be- 
yond the baccalaureate degree. At the Im- 
perial College of Science and Technology in 
London, investigations on wood have been 
conducted during the past dozen years or so 
by Professor Percy Groom and Professor Dal- 
by, under the auspices of the research de- 
partment. At the Royal College of Science 
for Ireland, at Dublin, a diploma in forestry 
is awarded after a four-year course. The di- 
rector of this school is Prof. A. Henry, whose 
work as an investigator is well known in for- 
estry circles. There are also, in England and 
Scotland, five lower grade, or ranger schools, 
for the training of forest apprentices. That 
on the Forest of Dean has been in operation 
since 1904. 
PROPOSALS FOR A CENTRAL INSTITU- 
TION FOR FORESTRY EDUCATION 
As one of the results of the British Empire 
Forestry Conference, held in London in July, 
1920, a committee was appointed, under the 
chairmanship of Lord Clinton, to report upon 
the feasibility of establishing a central insti- 
tution for training forest officers. From its 
chairman, this body is usually referred to as 
the Clinton Committee. After visiting the 
various schools and hearing evidence, the 
committee reported, February 1, 1921, (1) 
in favor of a central institution, which it rec- 
ommended be located at Oxford, as a part of 
the university; (2) that there should be a 
governing board to determine questions of 
policy; (3) that a properly qualified staff be 
provided, and that the school be suitably 
housed; (4) that the students entering the 
school should have taken a forestry degree at 
a recognized institution and that their work 
at the central institution be of advanced 
grade; (5) that the institution be the center 
of forest research. 
It is the idea of the committee that forest 
schools throughout the empire, as well as 
those located in the United Kingdom, should 
send certain of their graduates to the cen- 
tral institution, and that financial aid be ren- 
dered, in connection therewith, by the several 
dominion governments overseas, under which 
these schools are organized. 
As yet no definite action has resulted from 
the recommendations of the Clinton Commit- 
tee. But the matter is under discussion that 
may lead in time to another important for- 
ward step in forestry education. If such a 
policy as is proposed is put into operation it 
can but have an influence on other countries 
as well as those under the British: flag. 
THE NET 
CONCLUSIONS 
The net conclusions that the writer of this 
letter brings back from his sojourn in Eu- 
rope are that the forest schools of all the 
countries he visited are live, active institu- 
tions, that not only are giving their students 
full and careful preparation for their profes- 
sional work, but also are exercising no small 
degree of influence on the development -of 
forestry in each of these countries. Through- 
out he found that the men on the teaching 
staff were in close contact with practical af- 
fairs in the forest, that they were keeping up 
the traditions of earlier years by noteworthy 
contrigutions to professional literature, and 
that they were in the leadership in the field 
of forest research. These things, coupled 
with the records of the graduates who have 
gone out from these institutions, all point 
conclusively to the conclusion that the Euro- 
pean forest schools have in the past and are 
now performing well the task that is theirs 
to carry on. It should be the ambition. of 
the forest schools of America to show, after 
the passage of a century, as creditable a rec- 
ord as do the forest schools of Europe. 
(89) 
