REVIEWS 779 



air. Then he changed some of the plants about to see what effect the 

 previous environment would have upon transpiration. He found prac- 

 tically no effect. The plants which had been growing in a moist atmos- 

 phere, as soon as placed in dry air, behaved just like the plants which 

 had grown in the dry air right along, and vice versa. This would seem 

 to indicate that in forest nurseries in semi-arid regions there is no use 

 in trying to accHmatize the young trees by leaving them with very little 

 water, as has sometimes been advocated. It would be well, however, 

 before accepting this conclusion, to try an analogous experiment cover- 

 ing a period considerably longer than eight weeks. 



The foregoing are but a few of the more important results of Kies- 

 selbach's research. His bulletin contains much else which will not only 

 repay careful perusal, but make the publication one to which forest in- 

 vestigators can constantly turn for helpful suggestions. 



Barrington MoorE. 



Department of Conservation and Development, State of Nezv Jersey. 

 Annual Report for the year ending October 31, 1916. Pp. 84. 



As long as 40 years ago the State Geologist of New Jersey included 

 the forestry interests of the State in his annual reports. In 1904 a 

 Forest Park Reservation Commission was instituted, and in 191 5 six 

 State commissions were amalgamated into the Department of Conser- 

 vation and Development, Mr. Alfred Gaskill, the State Forester, be- 

 coming also the director of the department, under a board of eight 

 commissioners, the department being divided into three divisions, 

 namely, of geology, of forests and parks, and of waters. 



Mr, Gaskill, on account of ill health being on leave of absence, the 

 section of the report dealing with the State Forester's work, as well as 

 that of the State Fire Warden, is made by the latter, Mr. C. P. Wilber. 

 A very brief statement of activities of the department as a whole and 

 the Geologist's report occupies over one-half of the volume. 



Although the State now owns over 15,000 acres of forest reserves, 

 the activities of the State Forester even on these reserves are largely 

 educational. This attitude is explained by the statement that "forestry 

 in the State undoubtedly will long remain a problem of the private 

 owner in large part," and the regular employment of a forester by 

 most owners is excluded on the mere woodlots into which the 200,000 

 acres of forest land seems to be divided. This may be true for. the 

 northern part of New Jersey; but in the southern section there appear, 

 by the statement of the department itself, extensive enough areas to 



