eying, and forest instruments for
work in the field, are often of great value to the student.

What should a young man learn at a forest school? Doubtless there will
be some variation of opinion as to the exact course of study which will
best fit him for the work of a Forester in the United States. The
following list expresses the best judgment on the subject I have been
able to form:

DENDROLOGY:

The first step in forestry is to become acquainted with the various
kinds of trees. The coming Forester must learn to identify the woody
plants of the United States, both in summer and in winter. He must
understand their shapes and outward structures, and where they are
found, and he must begin his knowledge of the individual habits of
growth and life which distinguish the trees which are important in
forestry.

FOREST PHYSIOGRAPHY:

Trees grow in the soil. It is important to know something of the origin
of soils and their properties and values, and of the principal soil
types, with special reference to their effect upon plant distribution
and welfare. The origin, nature, value, and conservation of humus, that
most essential ingredient of the forest floor; the field methods of
mapping soil types; the rock types most important in their relation to
soils, how they are made up, how they make soil, and where they
occur--something should be learned of all this. Finally, under this
head, the student ought to get a usable knowledge of the physiographic
regions of the United States, their boundaries, geologic structure,
topography, drainage, and soils,--all this naturally with special
reference to the relation between these basic facts and the forest.

SILVICULTURE:

Silviculture is the art of caring for forests, and therefore the
backbone of forestry. It is based upon Silvics, which is the knowledge
of the habits or behavior of trees in their relations to light, heat,
and moisture, to the air and soil, and to each other. It is the facts
embraced in Silvics which explain the composition, character, and form
of the forest; the success or failure of tree species in competition
with each other; the distribution of trees and of forests; the
development of each tree in height, diameter, and volume; its form and
length of life; the methods of its reproduction; and the effect of all
these upon the nature and the evolution of the city of trees, and upon
forest types and their life histories.

This is knowledge the Forester c