REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS, 223 
practice, seem to have entirely overlooked this principle in 
forestry, the truth and importance of which are so clearly and 
forcibly presented by the author in this volume, as well as in 
former writings, as for example in that excellent little forestry 
classic, Studies in Forestry, which is largely drawn upon for this 
work. Dr Nisbet has done much to disseminate a sounder 
knowledge of such important principles in forestry as that to 
which reference has been made. 
Chapter III. covers the subject of sowing, nursery-work, and 
planting. The author quotes from Continental authorities, and 
indicates various general principles observed in forming nurseries 
which may be equally applicable to British conditions. The 
practical work of forming nurseries, temporary and permanent, 
is sketched, and such matters as preparing the ground, manuring, 
sowing the seeds, and transplanting seedlings are treated in 
detail. Useful tables of quantities for the nursery are also 
given. The comparison of British and Continental methods of 
nursery-work and “schooling” of seedlings cannot fail to be of 
very practical interest to the British forester. 
The latter part of this chapter deals with the preparation of 
ground for planting, and the various methods of planting out 
permanently into the woods. Dr Nisbet naturally gives 
prominence to Continental methods which, questions of cost 
apart, are perhaps the best; and although he does not actually 
condemn “notch-” or “slit-’planting of conifers, he seems to 
consider this method suitable only for light, sandy soils. 
These certainly do need but a minimum of preparation, yet 
the fact remains that large tracts of land in Great Britain, 
especially in the north of Scotland, have been very successfully 
and cheaply stocked with trees by this method, either by the 
single notch with the hand-planting iron, or by the double T 
notch with the common spade, seedlings or quite small trans- 
plants being in each case used. And these plantings are by 
no means confined to light, porous soils. Probably the success 
is almost entirely due to our relatively moist climate. An 
objection put forward by the author against notch-planting is 
that it distorts the root-system more than other methods of 
planting. It may lead to greater distortion of the roots than 
other methods, but it NEED not do so if the work is carefully 
done, and only seedlings or small transplants are used. Past 
experience has shown that distortion of the roots is more 
