C—3a

111. The scope of the writer's movements in Finland was limited to visits to — (a) Helsinki. —For the duration of the third World Forestry Congress, and for a brief period thereafter, to study the School of Forestry and Forest Research Institute organizations. (b) South-west Finland. —During a three-day tour (No. 9) arranged for Congress delegates, and under the guidance of the following Finnish foresters— Messrs. Kalkkinen (Forest Councillor, and General Manager of the Co-opera-tive Society " Metsalutto "), E. E. Erkkila (Doctor of Forestry), and Professor Aaltonen (Forestry Research Institute) —a coastal route was followed from Helsinki to Turku, thence inland to Salo, and Hameenlinna, returning via the Forest Research Institute experimental area at Ruotsinkyla (Genetics Station). Some forty inspections of forest and industrial points of interest were made, chiefly in mixed stands of spruce, pine, and birch. Of unusual interest were (1) the wooden-ship-building industry (Pinua sylvestris) for Russian reparations, at Turku ; and (2) swamp forestry practices, and the results of bog draining in 1800 at Punasuo, the earliest in Finland. (c) The University Forest at Hyytiala, and the middle Forestry School at Kuru, both some 150 miles north of Helsinki, and near the industrial city of Tampere. Higher Forestry Education 112. The teaching of forestry in Finland dates from 1860, when in the forests of Evo (70 miles north of Helsinki) a forest college was established, with a teaching staff of a headmaster, three lecturers, and two other teachers. The Evo College moved to Helsinki in 1908, and in 1923 was incorporated into the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of the State University of Helsinki. 113. Finland's first Professor of Silviculture (1908) was Dr. A. K. Cajander, and the present high standard of forestry education is largely due to the influence of that great forester, who subsequently became Prime Minister of Finland. 114. At present the number of students in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry is approximately 1,500, one-third of which are forestry students. To enter the Faculty, Matriculation " and not less than six months' practical training in forestry are prerequisites ; the annual quota of students is restricted under a " numerus clausus " system, based on a scrutiny of the applicants' academic records. 115. There are twenty-two professors on the combined faculty, eight of which are forestry professors. Two professors and several associate professors and lecturers teach fundamental (basic science) subjects to both agriculture and forestry students. 116. The Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry is directly administered by a Board consisting of all the faculty professors; the Dean of the faculty is elected periodically from agriculture and forestry professors in sequence. 117. The forestry course consists of a choice of five syllabi, each requiring four years' study with practical field training during summer, winter, and spring. The faculty recognizes a need in Finland for variations from the general forestry course to meet the special requirements of those preparing to undertake the following specialized branches of forestry : (i) Swamp Forestry.—The conversion of swamp lands to productive forest is one of Finland's major forest problems. It has been estimated that if all the forest swamps in Finland were drained, the present national timber yield of 40,000,000 cubic metres per annum could be more than doubled. (ii) Forest Utilization. —Logging, floating, sawmilling mainly in private industry.

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