FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 407 



When it comes to teaching an art, it would appear natural to find out where this 

 art has been most highly developed, and demonstrate the principles and laws under- 

 lying the practice of that country, pointing out differences which different condi- 

 tions provoke. 



Thus, since the art of music has found its highest expression in Italy and Ger- 

 many, it is customary to study this art by the guidance of the art of these countries; 

 when architecture is concerned, old Greece and Italy and modern France furnish 

 models. 



Forestry is a Teutonic art ; it has been developed in Germany for more than two 

 centuries, and the literature on the subject is almost entirely confined to the lan- 

 guage cf that country, with France a second. It is, therefore, natural and proper 

 for teacher and practitioner to study the practices of those countries, in order to find 

 the principles and laws underlying them, and, if he have judgment, apply them, 

 under different sets of conditions, with that modification which these conditions 

 require. 



For the United States it may still be asserted that practically the art of forestry 

 is not yet in existence. For this reason, the patriot whose fond dream it is to teach 

 or practice "American " forestry will find it hard to prove the birthright of his art. 



Trees grow and develop under natural laws. These laws have been studied in 

 Germany more closely than elsewhere for a century, and it is not likely that we shall 

 find them different in the United States, nor that we shall quickly find methods of 

 growing and planting them that have not been tried in that country. 



Business principles have also been studied by the business world of Europe, and 

 while the manner of their application varies somewhat in different countries, the 

 principles remain the same. And it is principles mainly that a college is called 

 upon to teach. 



We come, then, to the conclusion that, while it would be folly to advocate the 

 methods applied in the more developed and economically different conditions of 

 Germany, and especially in their governmental administrations, only the man who is 

 thoroughly familiar with their practices can claim to be an accomplished forester, 

 just as nobody would be considered an accomplished musician who is unfamiliar 

 with German composers. 



This College of Forestry, therefore, will continue to teach the immutable laws 

 and principles which underlie forestry wherever practised, but, in its management 

 of the College Forest, will adapt these principles to the conditions surrounding the 

 problem. This we conceive to be the true American spirit. 



********** 



