The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-23
THE STUDY OF FORESTRY.
DevOteeS Of The Profession Badly
Needed in America.

Inc new opening is In forestry. OF for
est engineering. as II is coming 70 be
called, and In a country with such vast
( forest tracts as ours. tracts fitted for
nothing but forest growth and admirably
adapted to that with vast capital and
labor depending on the timber supply for
employment. it is evident that there is "a
field for the forest engineer. the man who
knows how 10 keep up the annual supply
forever. Forestry as a profession is not
new to the world, for il has been practfc-
ed with profit by generations Of the more
thrifty European races. il is new 10 this
country because the time Is only Just ripe
for It's employment 1t has become essen
tal 10 the continued prosperity Of our
lumber industry IN its producing and
manufacturing branches. With an in
creasing population and general prospect
" local consumption OF timber has multi
piled rapidly. The demand from abroad Is
also continuous aud growing. To meet
~ we have very certain aud fixed stock
OF growing timber. and much of the best
timber land il abandoned to absolute des-
eTt waste, after being clean cut. as the
phrase Is Forestry, the applied science
OF growing trees for profit. would never
sanction such shiftleSs shOrt-s iEhted. yea
suicidal. methods II would keep IN grow
iur timber. and that Of the kinds best
suited 20 the particular soil and market.
every acre of land which was not more
valuable for agriculture. building or some
other form Of business enterprise.
In brief. il may be said that the wealth
produced from our American forests each
year exceeds iu value the total product of
all the gold silver. copper. iron lead and
coal mines. and the value Of this crop
surpaS~es that of the wheat and cotton
uslds combined The statistics Of OUR ma
tIuLal trade bear out these statements In
similarly abbreviated form IL can bC said
that this country is now and has been for
several years past using fully 80 per cent
more wood per aunum for all purposes
than the forests can produce under uatu-
raj conditions What those forests can
do when skillfuily assisted by future gen
eraUiuns of forest engineers is for those
men TO prove. Surely there viii rot be
the WaLJOu waste which goes on today
taUd that leakage stopped can properly Zoe
charged up 10 the credit OF increased pro-
uUCticnJ and the trees Will grow faster
for being given the proper conditions with
out the necessity Of their ughrlug for
them single handed.
Forestry cannot be studied today in any
and every college in the land. There are
at present three prominent schools DC
voted exclusively TO the subject, and sFe-
Cial courses in certain phases Of the
science have lately been opened hy few
other institutions
The three leading schools are here men
toned IN the order Of their foundation.
as follows The school at George Wander
bit forests at BtltmoTc. y. c. the New
York state College Of Forestry. Cornell
University. Ithaca. y. Y. the Yale For
est School, Yale University. New Haven.
Conn Berea College, Berea, KY, has
started a. course adapted To the needs OF
the mountain farmers. Tor whom that
college chiefly exists The New Hamp-
shire College of Agriculture and the Me
ChauiC Arts. Durham y. H.. has within
the year opened "a course in the subject
which should bc "a great help TO the far
m-Ts in northern New England. These
are the three chief schools and two of the
minor ones That courses are not opened
by more colleges is largely due. no
doubt, to the difficulty. even the impuSsi-
blltE. Of securing competent instruct orS
IL H#HHH
ton forests where the men can be uut to
work This suggests still another field for
tL- young American student who has not
yet nit upon his life work especially II
hc has an inclination 70 teach for Iiv-
ing These schools. ana others vet 10 be
must have professors and instructors i'm
the various branches Why not study for
-stTy. with "A view TO teaching the sci
enCe2-B0SJOu Transcript