76 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Much genuinely useful information is given concerning the 

 physical qualities and the technical applications of British- 

 grown timber. The author has further added to the value 

 of the book by giving what cannot fail to be of great interest 

 to both grower and consumer, namely, the recent prices which 

 have been obtained for timber of home production. 



At the end of the book are added very useful articles on — 

 Charcoal-making, Coppice and Underwood, Harvesting of Oak 

 Bark, Firewood and Faggots. 



In the Introduction a strong case is made out for the 

 necessity of increasing our supplies of British-grown timber, 

 and especially for greater care in conversion, seasoning and 

 grading. The supposed inferiority of home-grown timber 

 is mainly due to neglect of these important factors in its 

 preparation. The illustrations of longitudinal sections of the 

 woods dealt with show, generally, the growth and grain of the 

 different species. 



This book appears at a very opportune time, and cannot 

 fail to fulfil the important object for which it was written, 

 namely, to give in a concise form a descriptive account of all 

 home-grown timbers that are of value for commercial and 

 industrial purposes. 



The Testing of Forest Seeds during T^uetity-five Years, 1887-19 12. 

 By Johannes Rafn. 



The above interesting and instructive work by Johannes Rafn, 

 the well-known Danish seed expert, was printed for private 

 circulation. Through a long period of years the author has 

 studied all phases of the seed question, and especially whatever 

 pertained to the improvement in quality and supply of forest 

 tree seeds. 



In all plantings and afforestation, generally, it stands to reason 

 that much of the success or failure is bound to be closely related 

 to, and dependent on, the quality of the seed from which the 

 plants used originated. This fundamental fact was early 

 recognised by Johannes Rafn, who was one of the pioneers in the 

 development and perfecting of methods of seed-testing. The 

 present work gives a large amount of most valuable information 

 and statistics concerning the seed of all the forest trees cultivated 

 in Europe. 



