FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 337 



Fourth : Chemistry, in order that the forester may know the nutritive elements in 

 the earth or forest humus that conduce to the growth of trees ; and, also, the trees 

 that thrive best in certain soils. This science enables him to understand better how 

 trees grow, how they absorb, from the air, earth and water, certain chemical elements 

 which are assimilated and transformed into wood. 



Fifth: Geology, from which is acquired a knowledge of the disintegration of rocks, 

 the origin and formation of soil, the presence of minerals, the classification of rocks, 

 the formation and influence of the underlying strata. 



Sixth : Meteorology, the science through which is ascertained the relation of 

 forests to atmospheric and climatic conditions, the influence of forests on moisture and 

 evaporation. In the intelligent management of a large forest there are, at properly 

 selected points, stations for making daily meteorological observations, which are com- 

 pared with similar ones made at points outside the forest. 



In Europe there are forestry schools with special courses of study designed to fit 

 young men for the profession of a forester and render them capable of assuming the 

 care and management of large tracts of woodland. They are educated not only in 

 the details necessary to a successful financial management, but also in the technical 

 work requisite in the production or reproduction of forests. 



We have at the present time two schools of this kind in the United States — the 

 State College of Forestry, at Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., and the Forestry 

 School, at Biltmore, N. C. In some of our colleges, also, there are lectures on forestry 

 and kindred topics, in which the students acquire an elementary knowledge of the 

 subject which, though it may not be of direct practical benefit, forms a desirable part 

 of a liberal education. 



In these schools, both at home and abroad, the course of study for the first two 

 years includes the usual studies pursued in what is termed the scientific course in our 

 American colleges, together with French and German, special attention being given 

 to bookkeeping, accounts, mathematics, botany, chemistry, geology, mineralogy and 

 meteorology. The remainder of the course, occupying two years more, is devoted 

 largely to practical and technical work in the forest, the indoor studies being of a class 

 closely connected with the outdoor work. 



It is hoped and expected that when our State is ready to withdraw the present 

 constitutional restrictions relating to timber cutting and other forest revenues, that our 

 great woodland areas will be managed under the best approved forestry system ; and 

 that the work will be placed in charge of the skilled professional foresters graduated 

 from these technical schools. 

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