THE LIFE OF A FORESTER 79 
and second, a one-year course of practical training in 
a ranger school. The latter course while not really 
leading to a forestry degree is mentioned because while 
it only prepares men for subordinate positions like woods 
foremen, forest rangers, guards, ete., it has been con- 
sidered by some as a short cut to a forester’s diploma. It 
is aS true now as in the days of Euclid, that there is no 
short or “royal road to learning.” 
The ranger courses now offered at several schools in 
the United States are intensely practical. Ordinarily a 
strong body and a grammar-school education are suffi- 
cient. The rudiments of surveving, silviculture (the 
science of tending the forest), dendrology (the study 
of trees) are taught and much stress is laid on the 
practical phases of lumbering, timber cruising, fire 
protection, road and trail construction, etc. Trained 
forest rangers and guards will be in great demand in 
the country but no young man should consider that one 
year in a.ranger school will make him a forester. He 
will always remain a subordinate, a valuable man, but 
one with limited responsibility, and will doubtless spend 
the bulk of his time in the woods. 
The regular forestry course is something entirely 
different. It may be taken as a two-year postgraduate 
course after completing a regular four-year college 
course, or a continuous five-year course may be taken 
in which, by specializing in sciences, like botany, 
dendrology, and silviculture, during the first two years, 
one year is saved. 
A forester to go far in his profession should have 
a broad education. He should have a good command 
of English and preferably should be able to read Ger- 
man and French, since many forest problems have been 
worked out by the European foresters. He should be 
