CURRENT LITERATURE 



REVIEWS 



The Principles of Handling Woodlands. By 

 Henry Solon Graves, Chief Forester, 

 Forest Service, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, pp. xxi, 325. New York, 

 John Wiley & Sons; London, Chapman 

 & Hall, limited. 1911. Price ?1.50, net. 

 Our American literature of the theory 

 and practice of forestry is very new and 

 naturally increases slowly. Our foresters 

 have been too busy establishing their pro- 

 fession, doing its hard work, fighting its 

 battles, to put out many books. The United 

 States Forest Service has issued a mass of 

 published material, some of it of great and 

 permanent value, much of it to meet the 

 needs of the hour, and this has been sup- 

 plemented by the publications of associa- 

 tions and state forest services, but the di- 

 gested literature of the subject in perma- 

 nent book form, covering the field of Ameri- 

 can forestiT, is still limited. Nevertheless, 

 it is steadily developing and there is cause 

 for congratulation when any of the recog- 

 nized authorities among American foresters 

 adds to the list. It is, therefore, with dis- 

 tinct pleasure that we receive a book by the 

 Chief Forester of the United States. Mr. 

 Graves has chosen a subject that needed to 

 be covered and one which from his wide 

 experience with the types and conditions 

 of American silviculture he was peculiarly 

 well fitted to discuss. In his preface the 

 author mentions the need which we have 

 indicated "of systematic works covering the 

 different branches of forestry, for the use 

 of owners of woodlands, for practicing 

 foresters, and students in the forest 

 schools." The present volume is "a contri- 

 bution to this greatly needed literature of 

 forestry," "covering the silvicultural treat- 

 ment of woodlands." It is made clear that 

 this phrase covers its field, artificial seed- 

 ing and planting not being treated. Its 

 standpoint is that of present day condi- 

 tions, which will be modified as better and 

 more intensive methods come in with in- 

 creasing values and larger returns from 

 forestry. The author's own statement of 

 his plan should be noted in this connection: 

 "In the long run the application of for- 

 estry in this country will resemble very 



closely that in Europe, with such modifica- 

 tions as are required l3y the peculiar char- 

 acteristics of our species and our climate. 

 I have laid special emphasis on some of the 

 more primitive methods of forestry because 

 these are often the only methods which can 

 be applied under conditions of poor mar- 

 kets and difficult logging. Thus a promi- 

 nent place is given to the selection system 

 in its first application to virgin forests; 

 some of the clear-cutting systems, which 

 will necessarily later be replaced by better 

 methods, are described in considerable de- 

 tail; and more space is given to the primi- 

 tive application of the shelterwood system 

 than to its fully developed practise in 

 Europe. A number of the European modi- 

 fications of the various silvicultural sys- 

 tems have not been mentioned at all, as 

 they would have at present only a very 

 limited application in this country." 



The various chapters include (1) a gen- 

 eral introduction describing American for- 

 est conditions, the object and cost of silvi- 

 culture, classifications and systems; (2) 

 the selection system; (3) systems of clear 

 cutting; (4) the shelterwood system; (5) 

 the coppice system; (6) improvement of 

 the forest; (7) protection of forests from 

 fire, a chapter which is substantially the 

 recent bulletin on the same subject issued 

 by the Forest Service and reprinted in 

 American Forestry serially last year, and 

 (8) protection from other injurious agen- 

 cies, first of which and next to fire in magni- 

 tude Mr. Graves places the various in- 

 jurious forest insects. The book has an 

 analytical table of contents and an index. 



This is a volume which will be service- 

 able to either the lay or professional stu- 

 dent, although primarily a professional 

 book for professionals. It is clear and 

 direct in style, not unnecessarily encum- 

 bered with technicalities, but exact and 

 thorough. So far as the professional for- 

 esters are concerned it may safely be as- 

 sumed that they will consider it a necessary 

 part of their equipment; and beyond that, 

 it may be said that no owner of woodlands 

 or non-professional student of the subject 

 can study it without reaching a clearer con- 

 ception of the scope and principles of 

 forestry. 



365 



