The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-08-21
UNCLE SANS new FO9fSTtRS AND
THEIR WORK.

WWNA JAW . NV IVWlSICHS AN
THEIR WORK.
Thirty-nine young graduates o,
nine American Forest Schools have
lately received appointments as For.
est Assistants in the Forest Service
and have been assigned to positions
for the present field season. The
new appointees are drawn from the
various Forest Schools as follows
Yale, Is; Biltmore, 5; University Of
Minnesota, 4; University of Michi'
ga, 4; Michigan Agricultural Col.
lege, 3; Harvard, 2; Cornell, l;
U University of Iowa, l, and
University of Nebraska, l. They
have secured their appoint.
ments as a result of passing
the regular Civil Service examina.
ton, which is the only avenue to
employment as forester under the
Government. In addition to these
graduates Of Forest Schools, fifteen
other candidates passed the e1ami.
nation.
Twenty-Five of the new appointees
are already at work on various Ma
tional Forests, taking part in their
administration, and seventeen have
been assigned to different projects
connected with the technical study
of silviculture. Forest Assistants
are men who have completed their
preliminary training for the pro-
fession of forestry, as the graduates
of law or medical school have
completed theirs, and are ready to
enter on practical work. Until they
have gained experience in their
work, however, their positions are
necessarily subordinate. They are
at the foot Of the ladder, and must
prove their fitness in order to mount
higher. The Government pays them
81, 600 year at the start.
On the National Forests, the For
est Assistant often acts as adviser to
the Supervisors in charge, who are
western men experienced in all
practical matters, but usually with
out school training in the science of
forestry. Or they may be assigned
to the study of some particular
problem which needs to be investi.
gated in the interest of good forest
management. AS forestry means
knowing how TO get the most out OF
any given piece of forest land, it
calls for studies and experiments,
both scientific and practical, much
like those which have to be made in
the interest of good farm manage
ment, and the Forest Assistant is
prepared to do valuable work along
this line.
There is a growing interest in the
profession Of forestry now, and many
young men are asking how to get
into it and what it promises. Gift
ford Pinchot, the Government For
ester, has lately written on this sub
ject:
ITO be a good forester a man
should combine something of the
naturalist with a good deal OF the
business man. To know how to use
the forest he must be able to study
it. He must have, therefore, the
power of observation, fondness for
nature, and the ability to penetrate
her secrets. But if he is to succeed
he must also have good practical
judgment and the ability to meet
and handle men. lie must be re-
sourceful, able to stand by himself,
willing to undergo the privations OF
rough life, and capable of command :
ing the respect of rough men, who
quickly recognize virility and gen.
uineness OF character, but will not
tolerate pretense or the assumption
of superiority. A forester needs a
vigorous mind in a vigorous body.
He must be Of the kind that likes
to get things done, and does not
give up when things are not going