234 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



able tree to plant in this country, an opinion verbally expressed by 

 him to the author in 1888. Until now the silver fir has been so 

 frequently a failure in Britain, because it has been planted on 

 cleared ground instead of under shelter. If the latter method is 

 adopted in future, much better results are likely to be obtained, 

 a statement which is supported by the author's experience in the 

 Coopers Hill Experimental Plantations." ^ 



E. P. S. 



The Estate Manager. By Richard Henderson, Member by 

 Examination of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 

 the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, and 

 the Surveyors' Institution, etc., etc. Edinburgh and London :. 

 William Green & Sons, 1910. v 



It is quite impossible for any one man to be an expert in 

 every subject, and the author of The Estate Manager would 

 surely have done better if he had called in more extensively the 

 aid of recognised specialists in the various subjects dealt with in 

 his book. For example, a little expert advice would have done 

 much to improve the section devoted to forestry matters, 

 although it is freely admitted that it contains much useful 

 information of a general kind about trees and planting. 



In the introductory chapter of the book, the author discusses 

 the training necessary for young estate managers, and deals 

 with what, in his opinion, are the shortcomings and defects of 

 the present system of training in the Agricultural Colleges. 



Several ably-written chapters are devoted to the treatment of 

 such subjects as surveying and levelling, estate buildings, fences, 

 hedges, roads and field drains. The author is fully alive to the 

 importance of proper provision being made for the comfortable 

 housing not only of the farmer but of the labourer also, and 

 the chapters in which he describes the arrangement and 

 construction of farm buildings are well worth perusal. Although 

 it may seem paradoxical to say so, many of the Scottish farm 

 buildings of past days seem to have been structures of a really 

 too substantial and costly character, insomuch that when 

 alterations in their arrangement are rendered necessary in 

 consequence of changed conditions of farming, further heavy 

 expenditure has often to be faced. 



^ On this subject see Transactions, vol. xxii. p. 106. — Hon, Ed. 



