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determine in which forests the various species of beech exist by virtue of present climate and in which they are unstable survivors of the past, for it is only in the former that the desired species are aggressive and capable of sustained yield management. (3) The silvicultural possibilities of kauri within its rather restricted natural range have been amply demonstrated, and there is no doubt that it can be successfully managed in perpetuity. All State-owned kauri forests have already been placed under working plans, and the policy of consolidation of existing areas and acquisition of potentially productive forest remnants is being continued. Professional Forestry Training (1) During the year the New Zealand University Senate approved the establishment of a School of Forestry at Auckland University College. This proposal is based, in the main, on the advice of Professor S. M. Wadham of Melbourne to provide a four-year undergraduate course leading to a degree in forestry. It has been suggested that part of the course should be taken in a forest environment away from the University college, probably at Rotorua. To the extent that the University has met the desire of the Forest Service for a still higher standard of forestry education by also providing for a Masters degree, the Department is very appreciative ; but failure to provide for the whole of the professional work being located in a forest and not a University environment negatives the value of any local forest training, however high it may otherwise be. (2) The Forest Service has found no reason to alter its opinion that a four-year undergraduate course is inadequate to equip a professional forester with a satisfactory background of scientific training as well as sufficient instruction in forestry. The view that a professional forestry school should be organized on a graduate basis with a suitable scientific degree as a prerequisite has become more widely accepted in the Englishspeaking world. After spending some weeks in New Zealand, Dr. H. H. Chapman, Emeritus Professor of Yale University and a leading figure in American forestry education, was emphatic on this point. In sharp contrast to the New Zealand University proposals, he advocates a four-year course in basic sciences in place of the three preferred by the Forest Service and only two recommended by Professor Wadham. It is also noteworthy that the recent international Forestry and Timber Utilization Conference for Asia and the Pacific favoured graduate forestry training following a science degree. (3) If agreement to the establishment of a graduate school at Rotorua cannot be obtained, it may be preferable to follow a policy of training selected science graduates overseas rather than adopt the University's present proposal for an undergraduate school —a proposal which fails to provide the standard of forestry education advocated by this Service. Already it has become necessary to send junior professional officers overseas—one to Oxford and three to Canberra—and more must be sent before a local school could be organized. (4) There are considerable advantages in overseas training : students gain a more liberal education and establish professional contacts which are of inestimable benefit in their subsequent careers ; advantage can be taken of particular courses and forest conditions available in the best forestry schools in the English-speaking world and possibly in Europe, and the Forest Service will benefit from the diversity of experience and training. But one cannot ignore the disadvantages. Some excellent students may, for family or other reasons, be unable to go abroad ; it will be more difficult for the private student or the staff of local body or company forestry organizations to obtain professional training, while in times of financial stringency overseas bursaries are probably more prone to retrenchment than an established school.

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