4 THE PROFESSION OF FOEESTRT. 



FORESTRY AS A VOCATION. 

 LIFE OF THE FORESTER. 



Although forestry is now a recognized profession, perhaps a 

 majority of the people in this country still have only a vague idea as 

 to the kind of life the forester really leads. Many young men are 

 attracted to it because it is an outdoor profession. They are fond 

 of camping in the wOods, of fishing, and of hunting, and the prospect 

 of being able to spend a part of each year in the woods in connection 

 with their regular work seems very alluring. Such men should 

 remember, however, that the forester in his field work is seldom 

 able to enjoy the comforts to which the oidinaiy sportsman is accus- 

 tomed, and that spending considerable time in the woods as part of 

 one's regular business is very different from camping out for a few 

 weeks on a vacation. 



Any one who plans to take up forestry should realize at the outset 

 that his work is to be principally in the woods, often under trying 

 conditions. This is particularly true during the early days of his 

 work, when he is serving his apprenticeship, and as the number of 

 foresters increases and competition becomes more intense, tliis period 

 may be expected to lengthen. The young forester is also apt to have 

 his headquarters shifted frequently from pl,ace to place, as is the case 

 with civil engineers, so that he may be unable for some time to estab- 

 lish a home. ^ 



On the other hand, if he is an able man, he will ultimately be 

 advanced to a position of responsibilit}^ which will give him more 

 permanent headquarters and a greater opportunity for home life. 

 Even in the higher positions, however, whether in government or in 

 private work, the forester will be obliged to spend a great deal of time 

 in supervising the actual woods operations on the ground. In the 

 aggregate he will usually spend from 40 to 60 per cent of his time in 

 the field, mainly on short trips of from one to six weeks, and the rest 

 of his time in the office. His home will ordinarily be in a small town 

 or its vicinity, wdth but little opportunity for city life. Even here 

 he must not count himself secure against a change of working field 

 which will necessitate removal to a new place. 



To one who enjoys a life of this sort, the profession is fascinating; 

 to one who does not, the work soon becomes monotonous and even 

 positively disagreeable. 



The character of work which the forester is called upon to do 

 varies greatly under different conditions. Some men spend the 

 greater part of their time in the more strictly teclinical work of the 

 profession. They study such problems as the determination of the 

 amount of merchantable timber on a given tract, its rate of growth, 

 the best methods of cutting to secure a second crop without recourse 



