A Textbook of Conservation. 



The Conservation of Natural Resources in 

 the United States, by Chas. R. van 

 Hise, of the University of Wisconsin. 

 Pages xvi and 413. The Maemillan 

 Company of Canada, Ltd., Toronto. 

 Price, $2.00. 



As the result of the movement for con- 

 servation of natural resources, an immense 

 amount of information regarding these 

 resources has been collected in the United 

 States (as in other countries to which the 

 movement has extended), but until lately 

 this knowledge has been in such shape 

 that only the specialist in a particular de- 

 partment has had the time — let alone the 

 training — to investigate the mass of ma- 

 terial so collected. 



This lack of a concise and non-tech- 

 nical compendium of the knowledge on 

 the subject Dr. van Hise has sought to 

 remedy by the publication of this book, 

 which in the space of some four hundred 

 pages presents a synopsis of the results 

 of the investigations of the United States 

 Commission of Conservation. The mater- 

 ial for this work was taken largely from 

 the Report of the National Consevation 

 Commission, published at Washington (in 

 a limited edition) in 1909, (Senate Docu- 

 ment No. 676, 60th Congress, 2nd ses- 

 sion). 



The value of the work, as has been 

 hinted, lies in the fact that it enables the 

 reader to form a general idea of a sub- 

 ject of such vast extent and to see the 

 relation of the different parts to each 

 other and to the whole. This, as the au- 

 thor states in his preface, is the chief aim 

 in publishing the work. 



The book naturally falls into five parts. 



namely, (1) Mineral Resources, (2) Water, 

 (3) Forests, (4) Soil, and (5) Mankind — 

 the first four of approximately a hundred 

 pages each, and the last more briefly 

 treated. The subject of the forests, while 

 of the four it has the least letterpress de- 

 voted to it, is illustrated by some thirteen 

 or fourteen of the half-tone plates which 

 are found in the book, as well as by six of 

 the twenty figures. 



The section devoted to forestry gives a 

 short sketch of the original forests and 

 of the existing forests and takes up the 

 conservation of forest products under the 

 following heads: (1) Reduction of Waste 

 in Cutting, (2) Reduction of Waste in 

 Milling and Manufacture, (3) Reduction 

 of Loss in Turpentining, (4) Extension of 

 Life of Timber by Preservative Treat- 

 ment, (5) Utilization of By-products, (6) 

 Reduction of Fire Losses and the Control 

 of Fires, (7) Reforestation, (8) Mainten- 

 ance of Forests upon Essential Areas, (9) 

 Increase of Forest Growth by Stocking, 

 (10) Battle With Insect Pests, (11) Sub- 

 stitution of Other Products for Wood, and 

 (12) Reform of Tax Laws. 



Though to the student of forestry the 

 work may not contain much that is new, 

 it will at least give him an idea of the 

 work in other fields, and present in a 

 concise and convenient form the results 

 of much work and research in his own. 

 To the general reader a mine of facts 

 of the utmost interest and use will be 

 opened up. 



The fact that the book bears the im- 

 print of the Maemillan Company of Can- 

 ada is a sufficient guarantee of the ex- 

 cellence of the mechanical work and the 

 handsome appearance of the volume. 



The Decline of the Square Timber Trade. 



The annual report of the (Dominion) 

 Department of Public Works for the year 

 ending March 31st, 1910, contains an arti- 

 cle of considerable interest to students of 

 forestry and of the trade in forest pro- 

 ducts. The article referred to is contain- 

 . ed in the report of Mr. E. T. Smith, Col- 

 lector of Public Works Revenue, and is 

 in part, as follows: 



In the earlier part of the last century, 

 the entire export of Quebec pine was in 

 the form of timber in the squared log, 

 hewn with the axe, and floated down to 

 Quebec merchants, who put the timber in 

 shipping order by butting and dressing 



it at the Quebec shipping coves, dis- 

 posing of the culls locally for wharf 

 building and other similar purposes. The 

 greater part of the timber so received and 

 shipped was white pine, squared to a sharp 

 edge on the four corners; deals were made 

 for export to other countries, and reach- 

 ed the English market only in the char- 

 acter of stowage deals. The square logs 

 (and later on waney) were converted into 

 planks and boards at the various saw- 

 mills in the great towns in England and 

 in country yards; in the latter pit-sawing 

 was largely in vogue for log conversion. 

 In 1861, waney pine was made for the 



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