Part 1

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THE TRAINING OF A FORESTER

THE TRAINING OF A FORESTER

GIFFORD PINCHOT

WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS

PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1914

COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

PUBLISHED FEBRUARY, 1914

PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.

OVERTON W. PRICE FRIEND AND FELLOW WORKER

TO WHOM IS DUE, MORE THAN TO ANY OTHER MAN, THE HIGH EFFICIENCY OF THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE

PREFACE

At one time or another, the largest question before every young man is, "What shall I do with my life?" Among the possible openings, which best suits his ambition, his tastes, and his capacities? Along what line shall he undertake to make a successful career? The search for a life work and the choice of one is surely as important business as can occupy a boy verging into manhood. It is to help in the decision of those who are considering forestry as a profession that this little book has been written.

To the young man who is attracted to forestry and begins to consider it as a possible profession, certain questions present themselves. What is forestry? If he takes it up, what will his work be, and where? Does it in fact offer the satisfying type of outdoor life which it appears to offer? What chance does it present for a successful career, for a career of genuine usefulness, and what is the chance to make a living? Is he fitted for it in character, mind, and body? If so, what training does he need? These questions deserve an answer.

To the men whom it really suits, forestry offers a career more attractive, it may be said in all fairness, than any other career whatsoever. I doubt if any other profession can show a membership so uniformly and enthusiastically in love with the work. The men who have taken it up, practised it, and left it for other work are few. But to the man not fully adapted for it, forestry must be punishment, pure and simple. Those who have begun the study of forestry, and then have learned that it was not for them, have doubtless been more in number than those who have followed it through.

I urge no man to make forestry his profession, but rather to keep away from it if he can. In forestry a man is either altogether at home or very much out of place. Unless he has a compelling love for the Forester's life and the Forester's work, let him keep out of it.

G. P.

CONTENTS

PAGE

WHAT IS A FOREST? 13

THE FORESTER'S KNOWLEDGE 18

THE FOREST AND THE NATION 19

THE FORESTER'S POINT OF VIEW 23

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FORESTRY 27

THE WORK OF A FORESTER 30

THE FOREST SERVICE 30

THE FOREST SUPERVISOR 46

THE TRAINED FORESTER 50