s, or schools not of the
first grade, has doubtless been more rapid than the welfare of the
profession or the sound practice of forestry required, and the brisk
demand for teachers has led some men to take up the task of instruction
who were not well fitted for it.

There are in this country to-day 23 forest schools which prepare men for
the practice of forestry as a profession, and 51 schools which devote
themselves to general instruction in forestry or to courses for Forest
Rangers and Forest Guards. The approximate number of teachers in all
forest schools is at present 110, and this number will doubtless be
still further increased by the addition of new forest schools or the
expansion of old ones, while a certain number of places will be made
vacant by the retirement of men who find themselves better fitted for
other lines of work.

The teaching staff at three of the principal forest schools of the
country is as follows:

At School A, 5 men give their whole time to forest instruction, and 14
give courses in the forest school.

Schools B and C have each 4 men who give their whole time to the work;
and 4 and 20 respectively who give lectures or individual courses.

In addition to the work for lumbermen, associations, railroads, and
others just mentioned, an increasing number of Foresters are required to
care for the forests on large landed estates in different parts of the
country. Work of this kind is at present restricted almost entirely to
the East, and especially to New England, where several firms of
consulting Foresters give to it the larger portion of their time. Some
of the men thus employed are as fully occupied with the tasks of the
professional Forester as any of the men in the Government service, while
others give a part of their attention to the general management of the
property, or to the protection and propagation of game and fish.

THE OPPORTUNITY

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

There is no more useful profession than forestry. The opportunity to
make himself count in affairs of public importance comes earlier and
more certainly to the Forester than to the member of any other
profession. The first and most valuable, therefore, of the incentives
which lead the Forester to his choice is the chance to make himself of
use to his country and to his generation.

But if this is the first matter to be considered in deciding upon a
profession, it is by no means the last, and the practical considerations