CURRENT LITERATURE. 



The Principles of Handling Woodlands. By Henry Solon 

 Graves. New York. 191 1. 



Mr. Graves' volume is one of those semi-popular technical 

 books, which are needed not so much by the professional man, as 

 by that most important class of woodland owner's in whose hands 

 finally the future fate of the forest lies. 



It is the first attempt in print to discuss systematically silvicul- 

 ture with special reference to American conditions. 



In simple and direct language the reader is briefly informed 

 in some 40 pages of the undesirable conditions of American 

 for'ests, the objects of silviculture, and its methods in general. 

 It is interesting to note that the author places the extra cost of 

 operating in the hardwoods under forestry methods as from 25 

 cents to $1 per thousand feet, the cost of reproducing at from 

 $2 to $10 per acre, and the annual cost of protection, supervision 

 and administration as from 2 to 10 cents per acre. It would be 

 interesting to know how these figures are arrived at. He admits 

 that forestry cannot be profitable to all private owners, but for 

 some under favorable conditions it might, as for instance the 

 plantings in New England have produced over 6 per cent, on the 

 investment, and investments in second growth are also certain 

 to pay well. 



In the classification of silvicultural systems it appears to us a 

 curious mix-up of conceptions to place under clear-cutting system 

 the various methods which reserve seed trees, scattered or in 

 groups or in blocks or patches, and which we would class sepa- 

 rately as seed-tree methods. 



The details in the operation of the four different systems or 

 as we would prefer to say methods of silviculture are clearly 

 described, namely, selection, clearcutting, shelterwood method 

 and coppice, and examples are given from localities in the states 

 to show under what conditions they are applicable. We arte glad 

 to find that the selection forest is not any more the only ap- 

 plicable one. 



We are informed that the cost of marking in selection forest 



