THE PKOFESSION OF FOEESTEY. 15 



A big opportunit}^ exists in the lumber industry for practical 

 foresters with business ability. The forester who enters the lumber 

 business must be prepared to estimate standing timber, appraise 

 stumpage, determine the best method of cutting, estimate the future 

 growth, lay out logging roads and railroads, and participate in actual 

 lumbering and miUing operations. As soon as foresters show theii* 

 fitness for practical work of this character, there is no doubt that there 

 will be a keen demand for their services. Fitness for this work will 

 require entering the lumbering business at the bottom, and learning 

 its practical and business details in a long and exacting apprentice- 

 ship. This field, however, offers probably the greatest opportunity 

 for trained foresters in the future, both as to the number of men who 

 will be required and the ultimate rewards for success, in salary and 

 responsibihty. 



There is also a broad field among public service corporations which 

 own timberlands. Most railroads own a certain amount of forest 

 land, and the holdings of some, as the Xorthern Pacific, the Southern 

 Pacific, and the Santa Fe. are very extensive. A few of these com- 

 panies have already adopted a consistent and permanent pohcy of 

 holding their timberlands, and are introducing systematic forest 

 protection. The next step ^^'ill be the inauguration of a system of 

 forest administration somewhat similar to that on the Xational 

 Forests. Some of the eastern railroads are considering the acquisition 

 of forest lands, vrith. tree planting wherever necessaiy, for the pro- 

 duction of their own wood supphes, and the Pennsylvania for 

 example, has already put this polic}^ into effect. So far the number 

 of foresters employed by railroads is small, but the field is there, and 

 ultimately will call for trained men. 



Many water companies hold extensive tracts of timberland on the 

 drainage areas from which their water supplies are derived. These 

 companies have, for the most part, adopted the definite pohcy of 

 maintaining such land in forest growth. They will unquestionably 

 in many cases find it to their advantage to employ professional for- 

 esters to keep the forest cover in the best possible condition while at 

 the same time yielding a revenue. 



Frequently mining companies own lands which are covered %\'ith 

 tree growth. Many of the mining companies in the southern moun- 

 tains, especiaUy coal mining companies, own considerable areas of 

 land which they \\T.sh to hold for mineral development and also for 

 the production of wood and timber for use in the mines. Some of 

 these companies have ah'eady interested themseh^es in the question 

 of treating timbers with chemical preservatives, and others have taken 

 up the problem of conservative management of the forest land which 

 they own. 



Another class of private owners consists of those who have acquired 

 forest property for hunting and other recreation purposes. Some of 



