RKVIKWS 681 



srvvrity of removal "of crown cover, but not upon that alone. The 

 composition of the stand which was cut, the quality of the site, the 

 culling of the stand in the years before cutting, time of year of cutting, 

 the size of trees cut, the age of trees left standing, the amount and 

 kind of advance reproduction, seed on the ground, etc., all are factors 

 influencing the amount and kind of reproduction found. Without such 

 descriptive information the data are of little value for they cannot be 

 applied elsewhere, although, to be sure, they tell what to look for and, 

 in general perhaps, what happens after cutting. 



In many cases the quantitative validity of the information is not 

 given. Table 12. for instance, is based on ''eight sample plots scat- 

 tered over 4.9 acres" but the total area of the plots is not given nor is 

 the relative position of these plots explained. The same is true of 

 Tables 10 and 4. 



Table 4 is based on 9? sample plots which were "distributed"" over 

 37 acres but it is not stated what system was used in "distributing" 

 the plots. If they were placed in an arbitrary manner a certain spac- 

 ing apart, then their value probably is higher (at least is probably 

 different) than if they were placed where they would indicate, in the 

 judgment of the investigator, the representative conditions of the tract. 

 The latter method of "hand picking"' the location of plots may be 

 advisable under some conditions, but to do so on a silvical investiga- 

 tion of reproduction usually gives the impression of being afraid to 

 trust to mathematically spaced plots for fear of not proving or sub- 

 stantiating a pre-established notion held by the investigators. The 

 same criticism applies to Tables 16 and 12. 



In some cases, too, the basis for the tables of growth is not given. 

 The number of trees used in preparation of Table 8 for instance, is 

 not given, nor is it for either Table 13 or Table IT. One is at a loss 

 to know how much credence can be given to such information. 



It is unfortunate that the "investigations of a field party of five 

 men during the summer of 1919, together with some data previously 

 collected."" should be presented in this manner. Here is a very con- 

 siderable amount of pertinent information, necessary in handling 

 forest properties in the Adirondacks, which cannot be used in the 

 field with a feeling of safety, largely because of the lack of supple- 

 mentary descriptions of site and of forest conditions. The report 

 looks like an attempt to give detailed average figures of silvics for an 

 entire region ; to apply to all the site qualities of the types in this 



