This article is written with the intention of clearing up some questions that the high school student in Iowa who is considering a Forestry course may have in mind. Possibly it will help answer some such questions as these

Andrews, H. J

English

This article is written with the intention of clearing up some questions that the high school student in Iowa who is considering a Forestry course may have in mind. Possibly it will help answer some such questions as these:</p

Andrews, H.

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

-[`HE    AMES    FORESTER89Education  In  ForestryByH.  J.  AndrewsAssistant Professor of ForestryThis  article  is  writtell  With  the  intention  Of  Clea.rim,a  upsome  questions  that  the  high  school  student  in  Iowa  who  isconsidering  a  Forestry  course  may  have  in  mind.    Possiblyit  will  help  answer  sc'me  such  questions  as  these:Do   forestry  schools  train  men  for  forestry?What  subjects  are  necessary  for  a  forester's  trani,.lg?Are   fc'restry  courses   of   any   \Talue   simply   as   a   g-eneraleducation?Does  forestry  course  limit  a  man  only  to  forest  productswork  or  is  it  of  any  i-alue  in  other  lines  of  work?     D,oes  itgive  him  any  viewpoint  that  a  general  education  would  not?There  are  a  goc'd  many  different  ideas  and  opinions  as  tojust  what  forestry  is  alld  Of  What  the  education  Of  a  1-OreStershould   consist   e\Ten   among   foresters.     This   is   because   thejobs and positions listed as pertailling tO forestry  and fO'reSterSrange  from  experts  ill  woods  and  Products  tO  the  ranger  andguard jobs  on the National  Forests.    With  such  a wide  rangeit  is  impossible  fc'r  a  student  while  in  school  to  become  thor-oughly  trained  in  e\Tery  One   Of  these   POSSibilities.In  this  article   thell,  let  us  consider  that  the  majority  offoresters  are  menJ  interested  in  the  work  of  raising  or  hand-ling timber on large enough areas to make their services wc,rthwhile.The  forester  is  really  a  land  economist.    Hle  is  allowed  toexist  professionally  because  he  call  Show  the  relative  valuesof  land  either for agriculture  or for timber,  and  having shc'wnits  unfitness  for  agriculture,  he  can  handle  it  in  timber  witlla,  maximum  of  results  and  a  minimum  of  expense.    This  atonce suggests the  importance of his knowint>cr economics.    Thecomplete and proper use of idle land in this country is as muchhis  problem  and  argument  as  the  \TaniShing timber  Supply.In  this  kind  of work  the  higher  positions  are  of  an  execu-tive  and  administrati\-e  nature.    A  man  handling  big  areas  ofland has  problems of the use of land, land values,  constructionof  imprc,vements,  such  as  roads,  trails,  etc.,  recreation,  oper-ation, protection, etc.    He is dealing with both men and mater-ials  and  has  to  balance  one  thing  up  against  another;  to  puteach  thing in  its  place  and  give  it  its  proper  value.In  order to  do this prclperly he  has to  have  a  general  graspof  the  situation  which  only  a  broad  general  training  plus  lotsof field  experience  call  gi\Te.    A  narrow,  strilctly  technical  edu-90                    TIiF_    AMES    FORESTERcation  will  not  fill  the  bill.     This  does  nc't  mean  that  therewill  not  have  to  be  many  specialists  who  know  the  details;and  we  will  get  more  and  more  of  this  in  the  future;  but  thereal job  in  forestry  is  for the  man  whc' takes  a big  layout  andbalances   all   the   specialistsJ   details   and   puts   them   in   their1,r,,Per  Place.     ''A  man  trained  to  think  upon  one  line  alonewill  1lCVer  be  a  good  judge  even  Of  that,  for  he  has  I`1Ot  the'1lel-`i1,_,,eCtiVe   by   Which   tO   distinguish    between    the    essentialtrlll`-i   1-he   trivial."     A   I-orester,    then,    should    have    a    broadtr:I.i1~'Li]lg-.Can  specialization  ill  forestry  be  gone  into  in  the  SChOO1?r.ro  my  mind  speci:-I.1ization  in  forestry  is  really  clnly  obtaine`'1after  graduation  when  one  is  actively  on  the  job,  alld  by  lotsof  experience,  alld  except  for  a  few  lilleS   Cannot  be  ProperlyIpursued  in  scho,o'l.Does  the  average  forestry  cou1-Se  give  a  fairly  broad  edu-cation   in   various   subjects   with   enough   of   a   foundation   inforestry  and  forest  prc'ducts  to  give  a  man  a  start?    Take  forexample,  the  course  at  Iowa  State  College,  showll  in  the  fol-lowing  table.*GroupForestryBotanyChemistrySurveyingEnglish  Composition,  Rhetoric.Journalism       .................................  _..........ElectivesMathematicsGeologyMilitaryEntomologyLandscape  ArchitectureBacteriologyPhysicsEconomicsHistoryPublic     Speaking    ..............................Mechanical   Drawing   ...._......._.....Timber  Testing,  MechanicalManagementCreditHrs.Lumber  lVIarketsCreditcot`ocotlT+Iloot-COG\]OP-a\OC\OC\OOOc»`c<=::a;c5LrititiLdCq®Cq'edT+'T+'TiT+'T+'O Hrs.',-) 031221/315aicolco*a`-tleOOCOIOOO<IloOC\OOOOOC`]I+I+T+COC\Oc?titII|'OOOOdCOC`]OOE`OOC\OOOC\Oc»e$3j::c=;c5ldc5tl'T+-Cq®Cq'T+'r+'tliT+'T+'T+'OEngineering      ._.._...........,........................................    3                                0.9                                2                                0.9*The  student  in  his  senior  yelar  is  expected  to  choose  one  of  twogroups of studies, the management group  or  the lumber markets  group.This  schedule  includes  the  subjects  taken  during  the  fouryears  at  Ames  and  the  twelve  weeks   spent  in  the   s-I,1mmercamp   which  is   held   ill  the   WOC'd   in   different   forest   regionseach  year.    This  is  purely  field  work  in  forestry.If you  examine  this  schedule  carefully,  does  it  not  appearTI-IE    li\[ES    FORESTER                    91to  be  a  broad  general  education  of  a  scientific  rather  than  aliterary  or classical  nature,  but  nevertheless  fairly  broad?  Theforestry subjects are less tha1140 per cent of the course. Twen-ty-five  per  cent  c'f  the  subjects  listed  as  forestry  are  more  inthe  nature  of  applied  econoll_|1iCS  and  industry  than  Pure  for-estry.     From   these  on   down  the  list,  the  course   is,   as   canbe  easily  seen,  a  general  co\Tering  Of  the  Subjects  Of  ll_aturalscience,  engineering,  economics,  and  English.     Possibly  thereis  not  enclugh  economics  listed  but  the  elelctives  allowed  cantake   care  of  that  and   there   is   really  more   economics   thanthe  figures  show  because  a  good  many  of  the  subjects  listedunder  other  headings  have   to   deal  with   economics.This  schedule ought to give  the man  taking it up  at  leastan  idea  of  the  scope  and  importance  of  the  various  problemshe  will  meet.     Let  us  take  our  man  in  charge  of  a  big  areaof  timberland.     He   will   ha\Te   tO   know   about   SOils,   climate,botany  of  trees  and  plants,  land  laws,  surveying,  insects,  1og-ging,  markets  and  a  host  of other subjelcts  besides  having  theability  to  get  along  with  men,  speak  and  write  his  ideas  tc,them,   and   have   the   propel-   Outlook   on   the   relation   of   hisbusiness  to  the  rest  of  the  world.    I  believe  the  subjects  out-lined  in  the   course  will   at   least  give   him  a   taste   of   thesethings.Is  there  anything  else  that  a  fc,restry  course  offers  thatpossibly  some   other   courses   do   not?     It  usually   gives   thestudent   an   outlook   and   \TieWPOint   On   national   welfare   ob-tained  through  his  appreciation  elf  the  necessity  and  value  ofthe   conservation  and  wise   use   of  all  national   resources   in-eluding  land  itself.It  usually   gives   him   all   appreciation   Of   Physical   workand  a  lack  of  disdain  for  it  which  is  common  among  a  largenumber  of  lcollege   graduates,   a   situation  which   irritates   3Omany  industrial  leaders  in  their  relations  with  college  trainedmen.The  average  forestry  course   does   or  at  least  ought  togive  the  student  a pretty  gelleral viewpoint of science  c|..nd  thescientific  method  of  soh7ing  PrC'blems.    The  table  shows  thathe   at   least   comes   in   colltaCt   With   nearly   every   brar]ch   ofscience  both  natural  and  exact.I   believe   one   of  the   big   things   that   a   forestry   coursedoes  for a young man  is  to make  him  observant   especially  insummer  camp  work.     He  must  be  observant  to  amount  toanything in the profession.    He will be  dealing with  problemswhere  all  the  factors  cannot  be  fixed;  where   what  he   seesin  the  woods  will  need  interpretatio'n.    That  will  not  be  easy.He  will  see  exceptions  to  the  rule  and  will  have  to  be  on  the92                     TIIE    |AIMF.S    FORESTERalert  tol  recognize  that  there  is  probably  a  new  rule.    He  willneed  "a  mind  able  to  perceive  large  possibilities  in  little  oc-caslolns."     He  will  see  many  little  things  in  the  woods  andmany  familiar  things  that  he  understands.     ttNc'  attitude  ofmind  is  more  practical  than  that which  expelcts  valuable  sug-gestions  from   any  quarter."     The   same   author  says,   ttTheman  of  affairs  should  take  care  to  prevent  himself  from  fall-ing  into  the  habit  of  thinking  that  neglected  things  have  noproblems  worth  considering,  c'r  that  what  is  familiar  is  un-derstood."At  present   our  knowledge   of   forestry   in   this   countryseems  to  be  at  times  a  massl  of  rather  unrelated  data,  full  ofexceptions  tc,  the  rule,  full  of  many  untouclned  problems,  fullof  accepted  facts  that  are  probably  untrue.    A  certain  keen-ness  and  alertness  of  mind  usually  found  in  connection  withthe  person trained  to  be  observant of  natural  phenomena,  willbe   needed   to   solve   these   problems.     Needless   tc'  say,   if   aman  can  be  trained  to  be  observant,   this   habit  will  be  in-valuable  to   him   in  forestry  or  any  other  line  of  work.     Alot   of  the   subjects   in   forestry   and   the   work   given   in   thesummer  camp  in  the  field,  at  least  gets  the  student  started  inthe  right  directic,n.In  the  field we  often  see  an  effect;  timber  is  tall  or  short,good or poor, sound or diseased, etc., etc.    There are apparent-ly  many  causes.    The  actual  determination  of  the  minimumnumber of causes for the effect noted, is  the result  desired.    Itdemands  observation.  The  same  holds  true  in  business.  Some-thing  has  happened   (an  effect).     There  are  apparently   se\T-eral  causes.    Tha  tman  who  can  lay  his  hands  on  the  mini-mum  number  of lcauses  which  produced  the  situation  ]'s  valu-able     The  training  of  both  men  is  similar.Lastly,  does  the  training  and  education  received  in  theforestry  course  fit  a  man   for   any   work    besides    forestry?Whether the training specifically fits him for a,ther jobs or not,I  cannot say,  but  about  half  the  graduates  of  forestry  schoolsare  in  other  lines  of  work  and  are  making  good  at  them   sothat  the  training  is  of  at  least  some  general  value.    A  t;blec]'f   occupations   of   the   graduates   of   two   forest   schools,   theUniversity  of  Michigan  and  Iowa   State  Clollege,   will   showsome  of the  lines  of work  that  graduates  foresters  are  follow-ing.     These  percentages  are  figured  from  the  total  numberof graduates  c'f  the  two  schools  which  is  422.    An  average  ofthe  two  schools  shows  that  the  lines  of  work  the  graduateshave  taken  up  are  varied.     It  would  be  of  interest  to  haveTHE    A}IES    FORESTER                    93a  word  from  each  graduate  llOW  working  in  lines  a,ther  thanstraight  forestry  as  to  the  general  value  of  his  education.Occupatioln                                                                                     Per  cent  c'fgradu{l+lesU.  S.  Forest  ServiceEmployed in business other thall  timber Or lagging,  as oilcompanies,   rubber  companies,    telephone    ancl    tele-graph,  milling grain,  real  estate,  ranlch  foremall.,  Salesmanagers,  secretaries  and  treasurers,  chemists,  bollClsand   stocks,   nursery,   patholc'gists,   etc.   __............___........_.__..     llLoggingTimber and  Wood  Usillg  IllduStrieSTeaching  ForestryTeaching  Other  SubjectsCity   ForestryFarmingE,ngineerillg  and  Survey  \\TorkRunning  Own  Business   (Store  Keepers,  eta.)In  Employ  of  Foreign  Go\tern111entSState  Forest  Wc,rkU.  S.  Indian Service, Contracting and Public Works, U.  S.Government  (Elxclusive of Forest  Service)  Landscap-ing,  Authors,   Secretaries,   etlc.DeceasedExact  Occupatioll  LTnkownt`®tRtRcONNNNC``.S`j8s8:8:+§:j3`jS:R:R:+i::jS:+S

Education In Forestry

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Education In Forestry

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