ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. 



As early as 1876, in an address before the recently organized 

 American Forestry Association at Philadelphia, Burnett Lan- 

 dreth pointed out the necessity of teaching Forestry as a science 

 in itself and not as a branch of Agriculture. From that time, 

 throughout the period of agitation and public education which 

 preceded the foundation of the Department of Forestry there 

 continued frequent references to the necessity of such a separate 

 course or, better still, of a separate school devoted to the teach- 

 ing of Forestry. Most of the ideas expressed were based on the 

 European Forest Schools as models but all recognized the neces- 

 sity of adapting such a school to American needs and conditions. 

 This agitation was especially strong in the years 1888 and 1889. 

 During 1889 the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania es- 

 tablished a chair of Forestry to be filled as soon as funds became 

 available, but the chair was never filled. 



Public sentiment in favor of forestry was of slow growth 

 particularly among forest owners. Recognizing that this con- 

 dition must first be remedied by educational work, it was seen 

 that the time was not yet ripe for a technical forest school. So 

 the talk of the necessity of forestal education was not strong 

 until about the year 1900. 



In issues of "Forest Leaves," in 1901 and 1902, are found sev- 

 eral articles dwelling on the necessity of trained men to do for- 

 estry work upon the large areas of land which were rapidly pass- 

 ing into the control of the Forestry Department. Dr. J. T. Roth- 

 rock, then Commissioner of Forestry, took the lead in this move- 

 ment. Endeavors were made to have scientific courses added to 

 the University of Pennsylvania or to Pennsylvania State College. 

 These schools refused at that time to undertake the work. Ap- 



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