cost of the journey from the field to Washington is borne by the Service. 

 Those Forest Students with field experience whose service are desired 

 in the office during the winter are assigned to duty as Assistant Forest 

 Experts, and are paid at the rate of not more than $500 per annum 

 while working in Washington. 



An application blank for the position of Forest Student is furnished 

 on request by the Forester, U. S. Department of Agriculture. This blank, 

 when filled in and returned by the applicant, is filed for consideration 

 when the appointment of Forest Students for the field season is taken 

 up. The fitness of the applicant for appointment is judged from his 

 answers to the questions upon the blank. The two -main conditions 

 upon which his appointment depends are that he has definitely decided 

 to make forestry his profession, and that in age, physical condition, and 

 general training he is well equipped for the duties of Forest Student, 

 and is fitted to profit by his work. No applicant under 20 years of age 

 is eligible for appointment as Forest Student. Men, therefore, who 

 are already advanced in the study of forestry, either at a forest school 

 or elsewhere, and who are in other respects well qualified, stand the 

 best chance of appointment. In the same way, college graduates take 

 precedence of undergraduates, and undergraduates of those who have 

 had school training only. Men entirely without college training are 

 appointed to the position of Forest Student only when they are excep- 

 tional^ well fitted for work in the woods. The number of applicants 

 from students of forest schools has, of late, generally exceeded the num- 

 ber of appointments to be made, and it is probable that the excess will 

 grow steadily larger. The likelihood, therefore, of the appointment of 

 men who have not begun their training is exceedingly small, since the 

 first claim to the position open goes by right to the men who in general 

 training are best prepared to take up the technical work incident to a 

 scientific profession. 



The field work required of Forest Students is severe, monotonous, 

 and often entails some hardship. Forest Students in the field usually 

 live in camp and are required to keep lumbermen's hours. Their work 

 consists chiefly in "valuation surveys," or measurements of the stand- 

 ing timber upon given areas, and in " stem anatyses," or measurements 

 of contents and rate of growth made upon the felled trees. 



Cheerful obedience to orders is required of all Forest Students. 

 Laziness or discontent is fatal to camp discipline and to effective work. 

 No Forest Student is retained who proves physically unfit for his duties 

 or who shows a desire to shirk them. Bodily soundness and endurance 

 are absolutely essential for those who take up the work of a Forest 

 Student. Work in the woods differs profoundly from camp life as it is 

 usually understood. A Forest Student must be prepared to combine 

 severe mental work with severe bodily labor under conditions which 

 make each one peculiarly trying. 



