 Section 32 of a Brief History of Forestry. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Beau Wood. A Brief History of Forestry. By Bernard Fernot. Section 32, United States of America. 4. Education and Literature. The primary education of the people at large, and of their governments in particular, the propaganda for the economic reform contemplated by the Forestry movement was carried on, as stated, by the Federal Division of Forestry and especially by the Forestry Associations which sprang up in all parts of the country by means of their annual and special meetings aided by the General Press and sometimes by special publications. The first Journal of Forestry, a monthly publication ventured into the world as a private enterprise edited by Dr. Howe soon after the Forestry Congress in Cincinnati but it survived just one year, vanishing for lack of readers. This was followed by irregularly appearing forestry bulletins of which the writer prepared four under the aegis of the American Forestry Association. In 1886, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association began the publication of a bimonthly journal, Forest Leaves which has persisted to this day. In 1895, Dr. John Gifford launched another bimonthly the New Jersey Forester soon to change its name to the Forester and under that name three years later taken over by the American Forestry Association continued as forestry and irrigation changed to conservation and now again changed to American forestry. Now half a dozen or more similar publications emanate from the various state associations. In this connection there should not be forgotten the journal Garden and Forest edited by Professor C. S. Sargent which for ten years from 1888 to 1897 did much to enlighten the public on forestry matters. Some provision for technical education was made long before opportunity for its application to prison and indeed before any professional foresters were in existence to do the teaching. The new doctrine attracted the attention of educational institutions and the desire to assist in the popular movement led to the introduction of the subject at least by name into their curricula. The professor of botany or of horticulture adding forestry to his title and explaining in a few lectures the objects and as far as he knew them the methods of forestry or at least some lectures on dendrology and forest geography were introduced in the botanical courses. By 1897 twenty institutions, land grant colleges had in this way introduced the subject. Perhaps the first attempt to present systematically a whole course of technical forestry matter to a class of students was a series of twelve lectures delivered by the writer at the Massachusetts College of Agriculture in 1887 and another to students of political economy at Wisconsin University in 1897. The era of professional forest schools however was inaugurated in 1898 when the writer organized the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell University and almost simultaneously Dr. Schenck opened a private school at Biltmore. A year later another forest school was opened at Yale University an endowment of the pin shows Father and Sons. In 1903 the University of Michigan added a professional department of forestry and then followed a real flood of educational enthusiasm one institution after another seeing the necessity for adding the subject as an integral part to its courses. Before there were enough competent men in the field some twenty colleges or universities called for teachers besides private institutions. An inevitable result of this overproduction of forest schools and of foresters all at once must be an overcrowding of the profession with mediocre men before the profession is really fully established. Brief reference to the history of the first school established by the State of New York may be of interest as exemplifying in a striking manner the political troubles besetting reforms under Republican conditions. But for a similar occurrence in France this case might be unique in the history of educational institutions. Although the school thrived almost beyond expectation having in its fourth year attained in numbers to seventy larger than any French or German forest school at the time and readily finding employment for its graduates it suddenly came to an end in 1903. Its appropriation unanimously voted in the legislature was vetoed by the governor on the alleged ground that the silvicultural methods applied in the demonstration forest of the college had been subjected to grave criticism. It is true the only silvicultural method officially sanctioned by the Forest Service the selection forest had not been applied yet the war against the college being waged by two wealthy bankers of New York and the well-known character of the then governor suggests that other considerations than mere criticism of professional judgment were at the bottom of his action. As from the start the Federal Forestry Bureau naturally continued in ever increasing degree to be the educator of the nation not only as regards popular conceptions and attitudes but as regards technical matter. Its bulletins, circulars and reports on the subjects which come under investigation form the bulk of the American literature on the technical side of the subject. During the first twenty years of its existence some twenty thousand pages of printed matter were produced and the next decade increased the crop of information apace. At first intended for popular propaganda the matter printed was naturally argumentative statistical and descriptive but gradually more and more technical matter fill the pages and now most of the publications are of technical nature. One of the first extensive and important lines of investigation undertaken by the division was that into the characteristics and strength the timber physics of American woods which in its comprehensiveness commanded the admiration of even the Germans and gave rise to a series of reports. The biology of the American species more or less exhaustively studied was also begun in the old division as well as forest surveys etc. By 1902 enough professional interest was in the country to make the publication of a professional journal possible and desirable. The forestry quarterly being launched by the writer with a board of editors chosen mainly from the forest schools. The first association of professional foresters was formed in 1900 by the entirety of American foresters which issues from time to time proceedings containing technical discussions. The technical book literature partly due no doubt to the overpowering publication facilities of the federal government is still scanty and good textbooks especially are still lacking in most branches. A series of ephemeral popular books answered the demands of earlier days but outside of Professor Henry S. Graves' volumes on forest minceration and lately on the principles of handling woodlands and a few minor aid books and lecture notes there is as yet nothing of permanent value to be recorded. The writer's own publication Economics of Forestry is intended less for foresters than students of political economy. Three monumental works can be mentioned in the dendrological line however namely the 10th volume of the 12th census 1880 on the forest of North America Michaud and Nuttles, North American Silva in five volumes 1865 and C.S. Sargent Silva of the United States in 14 magnificent volumes three publications which can take rank with any similar literature anywhere. End of section 32 Recording by Beau Wood Section 33 of a brief history of forestry This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org A Brief History of Forestry by Bernard Ferenau Section 33 United States of America Insular Possessions The Spanish War in 1898 brought to the United States new outlying territory over 150,000 square miles in three locations The relationship as regards government varying in the three cases namely Puerto Rico, the Sandwich Islands and the Philippine Islands besides several smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean while the latter are only temporarily under control or tutelage of the United States and are expected sooner or later to attain complete self-government Hawaii was annexed as a territory in the same sense as all other territories the inhabitants having become citizens of the United States while Puerto Rico is a dependency with partial self-government but its inhabitants do not enjoy citizenship in the United States All these islands are located in the tropics and hence the composition of the forest is of tropical species commercially the forests of Puerto Rico and of Hawaii are relatively of little value but their protective value is paramount and a conservative policy is needed in order to preserve the water supply for agricultural use sugar plantations in Hawaii and to prevent erosion for Puerto Rico a beginning of forest policy was made by setting aside in 1903 the Loquillo Forest Reservation some 20,000 acres in the eastern mountainous part of the island which is under direct control of the United States government the rest of public lands and forests was placed under the department of the interior of the island in Hawaii even before annexation a movement on the part of the sugar planters association was made in 1897 to induce the insular government to devise protective measures the result was the appointment of a committee who made a report in which the rider had a hand not until 1903 was a board of commissioners of agriculture and forestry established a superintendent of forestry appointed an organization of district foresters affected and a number of forest reservations established the principle of state forest was fully recognized by planning the gradual withdrawal of some 300,000 acres and by beginning the extension of forested areas by plantations in 1910 23 reserves with an area of 575,000 acres had been made distribution of plant material and of advice to planters is also part of the policy annual reports are issued which attest the good common sense in the administration in the Philippine islands a territory of 120,000 square miles largely mountains not only the protective but the commercial value of the timberlands is considerable the extent is variously estimated as covering between 40 and 50 million acres 50% of total area much of it virgin and 16 million acres of it commercially valuable of the 700 odd species of trees mostly heavy woods composing the forest some 160 are marketable in China yet almost 50% of the home consumption is imported from the United States owing to absence or inaccessibility of soft woods in high cost due to excessive expensive present logging methods when the United States took charge of the islands it was found that the Spaniards had since 1863 a forestry service manned by Spanish foresters and in the lower ranks of the Philippinos to be sure the activities of this forestry bureau went hardly beyond the collection of dues for timber licenses which yielded little more than the cost of the service although on paper excellent instructions were found elaborated it so happened that an officer of the American Army Captain George P. A. Hearn had for some time given attention to forestry matters in the states and he naturally was placed in charge of this bureau in 1900 there were found to be around one million acres private and church property the rest being considered state lands but all private owners were required to register their holdings before being allowed to exercise their rights a system of licenses for cutting timber and of free use permits to the poor population was continued after Spanish models not only was an efficient administration gradually secured but the technical side of dendrological and and silva cultural knowledge was developed as rapidly as possible under the able administration of Captain A. Hearn a continuously growing literature being the result end of section 33 end of a brief history of forestry by Bernard Fernau