736 King St.,
Fredericton,N. B.,
Canada.
May 3rd 1945,
Prof. Aldo Leopold,
424 University Farm Place,
Madison, Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Dear Prof. Leopold,
Many thakks for your
letter and enclosures of April 27th which I received
yesterday. I have no doubt that your letter to Mr.
Gibson will materially assist my chances of being
granted leave with pay to take my course. However,
leave with or leave without pay, I intend to be in
Madison next fall.
My stay with you will not be rigidly
limited to one year, but I am aiming at taking my
degree in this time. I have a family to support so I
must get on with the buisness of earning a living.
I am coming to you geared for work and with my eyes
open.
I would like to be enrolled under
class two of your prospectus and toward this end I
am enclosing a sample of my output in wildlife
work . I trust that this sample will provide proof
of proficiency in field ornithology, mammalogy, and
a certain amount of botany, also some icthyology. I
have done one year of botany and one of dendrology in
my forestry course. I also hope these papers wvill
pvove ability to write clearly and simply which is
requirement 2.
The requirement "a student must have
worked at least one semester under observation by the
Department" presents a problem in my case. All I can
hope is that the diversified experience described in
my papers plus the contingencies of active service will
weigh in my favor. I would have been with y&u in 1940
if the war had not intervened.
As soon as I know the date of your
fall commencement I will arrange my retirement sothat
I will arrive in Madison in time to plan my course with
you before starting.
The study of fires and woodcock
covers in New Brunswick was cancelled by my enlistment
after one season's fieldworkbut it is capable of
completion at any time. The cougar paper tells its own
story and when it originally appeared it started a flood
of sighting reports which are still coming in to the
Chief Game Warden's office. I am going to go farther
into this at the first opportunity.