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 are the remedies, as well as (although this is far less important) the way to treat tree wounds and the correct methods of pruning.
Forest Economics:
Forest Economics is a large subject. It deals with the productive value of forests to their owners, and with the larger question of their place in the economy of the Nation. It considers their use as conservers of the soil and the streams; their effect on climate, locally, as in the case of windbreakers, and on a larger scale; and their contribution to the public welfare as recreation grounds and game refuges. It includes a knowledge of wastes from which the forests suffer, and the consequent loss to industry and to the public, and in this it does not omit the effects of forest fires. Statistics of forest consumption; the relation of the forest to railroads, mines, and other wood-using industries; its effect upon agriculture, stock raising, and manufacturing industries; and its effect upon the use of the streams for navigation, power, irrigation, and domestic water supply; all these are important. The student should consider also the forest resources of the United States, their present condition, and the needs they must be fitted to supply.
Forest Engineering:
Forest engineering is steadily becoming more and more necessary to the Forester. He must have a working knowledge of the use of surveying instruments; the making of topographic surveys; the office work required of an engineer; the making of topographic maps; the location of trails, roads, and railroads; and the construction of bridges, telephone lines, cabins, and fences, together with logging railroads, slides, dams, and flumes.
Forest Mensuration: