I20 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



task of conveying, in simple language that can be understood by 

 anyone, those facts of science that govern the cultivation and 

 preservation of trees. 



The second half of the book is devoted to the choice of 

 planting material, that is to say, it gives lists and short descrip- 

 tions of desirable trees and shrubs ; and also, under separate 

 groupings, the names of trees and shrubs that have special 

 features, whether individual as, for instance, coloured leaves, 

 coloured fruits, or special adaptations suiting them to localities 

 such as the seashore, exposed situations, wet soils and the like. 

 This is well done, and it will appeal to many. It has, however, 

 the defect of its time of appearance at a moment when the 

 number of desirable trees and shrubs for cultivation is being 

 increased manifold by the work of recent collectors in China — 

 Wilson, Forrest, Purdom, Ward, and others — so that there are 

 naturally missing from its pages many of the choicer sorts of 

 recent introduction. But this a new edition will remedy. 



It is no extravagant laudation to say that this is one of the 

 most delightful and instructive books that has been written on a 

 subject that gains daily in practical importance now that town 

 planning has become an obsession of municipalities. Everyone 

 interested in arboriculture should read the book. 



I. B. B. 



The Oak: Its Natural History^ Antiquity and Folk-lore. By 

 Charles Mosley. 126 pp., with 8 Illustrations. Price 5s. 

 London : Elliot Stock. 



This little book is not written for foresters, but for those of 

 the general public who take an interest in trees. The opening 

 chapter deals with the place of the oak amongst the other trees 

 of the forest, its distribution, its influence on place names, and 

 its other peculiarities. In the chapters which follow, the author 

 discourses on the economic value of the oak, its enemies and 

 parasites, historic and veteran oaks, mistletoe-oaks, the oak 

 in myth, folk-lore and holy writ, and he concludes with a list 

 of some of the more interesting species of oak. The book is 

 enriched throughout by quotations in prose and verse from 

 many authors. 



