an not do without. Silvics is the
foundation of his professional capacity, and as a student he can better
afford to scamp any part of his training rather than this. A man may be
a poor Forester who knows Silvics, but no man can be a good Forester who
does not.

The practice of Silviculture has to do with the treatment of woodlands.
The forest student must learn the different methods of reproducing
forests by different methods of cutting them down, and the application
of these methods in different American forest regions. There are also
many methods of cutting for the improvement of the character and growth
of forests, as well as for utilizing material that otherwise would go to
waste, before the final reproduction cuttings can be made. The ways in
which forests need protection are equally numerous, and of these by far
the most important in our country have to do with methods of preventing
or extinguishing forest fires.

Well managed forests are handled under working plans based on the
silvical character and silvicultural needs of the forest, as well as
upon the purpose set by the owner as the object of management, which is
often closely related to questions of forest finance. The student should
ground himself thoroughly in the making of silvicultural working plans,
and the more practice in making them he can get, the better. So, too,
with the marking of trees in reproduction and improvement cuttings under
as many different kinds of forest conditions as may be possible.

The artificial reproduction of forests is likely to occupy far more of
the Forester's attention in the future than it has in the past. Hence
the collection of tree seeds, their fertility and vitality as affecting
their handling, the best methods of seeding and planting, and the
lessons of past failures and successes, with the whole subject of
nursery work and the care of young plantations, must by no means be
overlooked.

Much incidental information on the subject of forest protection will
come to the student in the course of his studies, but special attention
should be given to learning which of the species of forest insects are
most injurious to forest vegetation, how their attacks are made, how
they may be discovered, and the best ways by which such attacks can be
mitigated or controlled. So also the diseases of timber trees will repay
hard study. The principal fungi which causes such diseases should be
known, how they attack the trees, and what a