16 THE PEOFESSIOl^ OF FOKESTKY. 



these owners are already beginning to practice forestry, and are 

 employing foresters to take care of their property. 



At present relatively few large tracts of land in private estates are 

 administered under forestry principles with a technical forester in 

 charge. More often the work on the ground is taken care of by a 

 resident ranger or woods foreman, and where any technical work is 

 done it is directed or supervised by a consulting forester who visits 

 the tract only at intervals. Most of the forestry work so far done on 

 private estates has been of this character, and except in the case of 

 the largest owners will probably continue to be. Already there are 

 a number of private firms and individuals wdth headquarters in New 

 York; Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, who do work as consult- 

 ing foresters. 



This phase of professional work will undoubtedly develop to a 

 considerable degree, as the principles of forestry become better known 

 and more generally recognized in the management of private wood- 

 lands. Work as '^consulting foresters" wiU be the natural goal of 

 many of the more mature and experienced men who have acquired 

 a sohd footing in the profession. It will also offer opportunities for 

 the employment of younger men as assistants and members of field 

 parties. Some of the larger firms of consulting foresters now estab- 

 lished require a permanent staff of trained men to carry on their 

 work. The number of such openings to foresters entering the pro- 

 fession will undoubtedly be materially increased in the future. 



Artificial reforestation by private owners is now assuming con- 

 siderable importance. Already approximately a milhon acres have 

 been planted, and interest in the subject is steadily increasing. There 

 is accordingly a profitable field for professional foresters in collecting 

 seed and raising nursery stock, either as a business by itself, or in 

 connection with other forestry work. 



The development of private forestry in this country will depend 

 in part upon favorable legislation with respect to taxation of growing 

 timber and upon fire protection by the States, but in part also upon 

 the individual work of the foresters themselves. If foresters prove 

 practical and can demonstrate to an employer that their work is 

 profitable, there is no question whatever that there wiU be plenty of 

 employment. The field is there, and it is an enormous one. It 

 remains only to be developed, and there is little question that the 

 foresters who are being turned out in such large numbers from the 

 various forest schools will solve the question, particularly when the 

 development of such work is necessary for their own existence. 



The compensation in private forestry depends entirely upon the 

 earning capacity of the individual. Ordinarily foresters under 

 salary wiH be paid for their technical work practically the same as 

 public forest officers, and undoubtedly employers will take public 



