Those appointed to the position of Forest Student in the Forest 

 Service should realize fully in the beginning that they will receive no 

 formal instruction in forestry. They are not attending a summer school, 

 but are taking a salaried position, the duties of which they will be 

 rigidly required to perform. Forest Students in the field are placed 

 under the supervision of trained foresters in the execution of technical 

 forest work. The head of the party is at all times willing, in so far as 

 it does not interfere with his own duties, to explain matters to the men 

 under his charge and to suggest and further lines of individual study. 

 He has, however, no time to deliver lectures or to give formal instruc- 

 tion of any kind. The Forest Student has in his daily work abundant 

 opportunity to learn: whether he makes the most of it rests with him. 



POSITION OF FOREST ASSISTANT. 



The position in the Service open to trained foresters is that of Forest 

 Assistant. It carries a salary of from $900 to $1,000 a year in the 

 beginning, with the payment of all living and traveling expenses inci- 

 dent to field work. The position entails a severe technical examination 

 under the U. S. Civil Service Commission, which no man may reason- 

 ably expect to pass unless he has been thoroughly trained in forestry. 



PREPARATION FOR FORESTRY. 



The preparation for forestry as a profession may best begin with a 

 college or university course, in which the student should acquire some 

 knowledge of the auxiliary subjects necessary in forestry. Of these, the 

 more important are geology, physical geography, mineralogy, chemistry, 

 botany — in particular that branch which deals with the anatomy, physi- 

 ology, and life history of plants — and pure and applied mathematics, 

 including a practical understanding of the principles of surveying. The 

 student who, in his college course, can include physics, meteorology, 

 and political economy will be the better equipped to take up his tech- 

 nical forest studies. 



Graduation at a college or university should be followed bj T a full 

 course at a school of instruction in professional forestry, of which there 

 are now several in this country. 



Vacations, during the course of training, should be spent in the woods 

 so far as possible. The student should take advantage of every oppor- 

 tunity to study forest conditions and to acquaint himself with technical 

 forest methods in field work. He should also see all he can of lumber- 

 ing, which, on its executive side, is closer to forestry than to any other 

 calling. A good knowledge of the lumberman's methods is an essential 

 part of a forester's education. 



Whenever possible the forest student will find it of advantage to 

 supplement his systematic studies in this country by six months to a 

 year spent in studying the effects of forestry upon the forest in Europe. 



