NOTICES AND REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 23 I 



existing condition of our forests ; that is, when a Conversion 

 from one silvicultural system to another is called for. Similarly, 

 the Selection method, a somewhat primitive system, which at 

 present finds considerable favour in the British Isles, is likewise 

 fully dealt with. We cannot, however, altogether subscribe to 

 the author's remarks regarding the futility of attempting to 

 prescribe the Possibility in the Selection-worked forest by any- 

 thing more elaborate than an area method, with perhaps the 

 addition of a diameter check. We are of opinion, that the 

 method enforced in this manner is attended with the drawback 

 that there is no means, other than by personal inspection, of 

 checking its correct application. The only extraneous control 

 that can be exercised over its application, is with regard to the 

 area cut over : and all the prescriptions on this subject might be 

 rigidly adhered to, while' the far more important cultural rules 

 were being misapplied. Hence, where possible, it is, in our 

 opinion, always preferable to determine the quantity of material 

 that may annually or periodically be removed with safety, and 

 to limit the fellings to this maximum quantity while subordinat- 

 ing them to cultural rules. 



There is one more minor matter to which we would here refer. 

 The question of evolving a generally accepted forest terminology 

 has been receiving considerable attention during recent years in 

 English-speaking countries. In the United States of America, 

 the matter has been placed on a sound footing by the publication 

 of a very useful booklet, ^ giving a list of the technical terms 

 prescribed for use in all Government forest reports in that 

 country. In India (where, thanks to the enormous areas of 

 State forests, methodically worked and organised by a body of 

 highly trained foresters, scientific forestry occupies a recognised 

 position), the same has been attempted by the tentative issue 

 of a glossary of forest technical terms, which may in due course 

 receive official sanction. - Under these circumstances, it is a pity 

 that no attempt has been made by the Schools of Forestry 

 in the British Isles, and those in our Indian dominions, to arrive 

 at some agreement on the subject of a suitable and mutually 

 acceptable nomenclature. As it is, the definitions given for the 



' Terms used in Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington. 

 - A Glossary of Technical Terms for Use in Indian Forestry. Superintendent, 

 Government Printing Department, Calcutta. 



