NOTICES AND REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 229 



the consideration of which of them will give him the highest rate 

 of interest on his invested capital. This subject is most clearly 

 and concisely dealt with in the work under review. 



Sir William Schlich devotes the second half of his manual of 

 Forest Management to a study of the various matters connected 

 with the preparation of forest working-plans ; that is to say, to 

 the drawing up of the necessary forest regulations prescribing, 

 in the case of a given forest, the application of certain cultural 

 rules and the execution of certain works in order to produce a 

 desired result. As the author explains: " If a forest is to yield 

 a return, either annually or periodically, it must be in a certain 

 state. In order to determine what this state should be under a 

 given set of conditions, it is useful to construct an ideal pattern, 

 such as would be presented by a forest which has grown up 

 uninfluenced by external interfering circumstances. The ideal 

 state differs, of course, for every method of treatment, in accord- 

 ance with the objects at which the management aims. In all 

 these cases, a forest which corresponds in every way to the objects 

 of management is called a normal forest. It enables the forester 

 to study the laws which must govern the management, and it 

 serves as an ideal to be aimed at, though it may never be alto- 

 gether reached, and at anyrate not permanently maintained." 

 A perfectly normal forest is, therefore, a purely ideal creation. 

 Probably no such forests actually exist, although many may 

 approach the normal condition when they have been under 

 a regular system of organised treatment for a long period. 

 Nevertheless, a correct understanding of the constitution of the 

 growing stock in the normal or ideal forest under each and every 

 method of treatment is essential, since upon it is based the 

 whole business of the preparation of the working-plan. The 

 purpose of a working-plan may, in fact, be said to be to bring the 

 existing forest as soon as possible, and as nearly as possible, to 

 the normal state, and thereafter to maintain it in that condition. 

 Confining himself to the consideration of forests which are 

 managed on economic principles, the author gives a very clear 

 and concise exposition of what is understood by the " normal " 

 forest, and how this normal state depends on a correct inter- 

 pretation of its various factors : — the increment, the rotation, the 

 distribution of the normal age-classes, the normal growing 

 stock, and the normal yield. All these various matters 

 constitute the general principles or foundations of forest 



