

1900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



305 



vhich lays its eggs iu the young wood. They are 

 :ollected and use I extensively in the manufac- 

 ure of ink, dyeing and tanning. These are en- 

 :ouraged by sowing the galls containing the 

 ggs in places where they may be desired. 



A translation in full of the articles in the 

 ^"orst und Jagd Zeitung on the teak forests of 

 ava by Forst-Assessor Seibt, a review of which 

 ippeared iu our last issue is now running in 

 he Indian Forester, beginning with the Sep- 

 etnber number. 



The ''Revistade Monies" for November con- 

 ains an interesting announcement in reference 

 o arbor day. It is called in Spanish " La Fiesta 

 lei arbol," or the festival of the tree. It is the 

 ext of a circular issued by the Provincial coun- 

 il of Agricultural Industry and Commerce of 

 he city of Valladolid. It covers five pag^s and 

 s s'gned : El Gobernador, Presidente,Jose Diaz 

 !e la Pedraja ; El Ingeniero, Secretario, Ole- 

 r ario Gutierrez del Oltno. The circular con- 

 ains in brief the following: "There is no 

 griculture possible without forests, nor forests 

 vithouta popular love of woodlands." " Trees 

 .re the bsauty of the country, the safe-guard of 

 vater sources and the providence of the moun- 

 ains." "One of the symptoms which clearly 

 eveals the civilization of a district is the respect 

 n which trees are held and the constant care of 

 heir regeneration." The advantages of such a 



festival are set forth. It gives occasion tote ich- 

 ers to show explanatory maps of fore-ts and agri- 

 culture, to teach how and why to respect trees, to 

 condemn the killing of birds and the robbing of 

 nests since the insectivorous birds help to ex- 

 terminate pestiferous insects. 



It would be easy, at leas.t possible, in every 

 municipality to acquire some uncultivated or 

 desert place on which such trees as the Locust 

 and Ailanthus might be planted; also shade trees 

 along sunny roads. In these and many other 

 ways, however humble, it can be shown how to 

 retrieve the errors of the past and remedy what 

 ignorance and vicious customs have engen- 

 dered. 



It is of interest to note the favor with which 

 the idea of the American Arbor Day has been 

 received in the countries of southern Europe 

 where they arc fond of festivals and where the 

 addition of another holiday for merry-making 

 is always received with more or less delight. 

 In preceding numbers of the Revisia there 

 have been articles in which the author has en- 

 deavored to show that the idea of an arbor day- 

 that is tree planting by school children is after 

 all an old thing in Spain. He concludes, how- 

 ever, that this importation is not wholly ident- 

 ical with such customs in Spain. A translation 

 of these articles would make interesting read- 

 ing. :-vi 



JOHN GIFFORD. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



forestry in British India. By B. Ribbentrop, 



C.I.E., Inspector-General of Forests to the 



Government of India. Calcutta : Office of 



Government Printing, India. 1900. Pp. 



245. Maps, 4. Price, three rupees or 4 s. 6 d. 



Not only to foresters the world over will this 



ittle book prove of interest, but also to those 



vho have their country's welfare in mind ; it 



hows in a brief and concise way how a system 



if forestry has been built up step by step since 



he conquest of India by the British, and in 



vhat manner that country has profited from 



uch a system. 



The author's preface explains the object of 

 he work most excellently : 



"The end of my career in the Indian Forest 

 Service is drawing near. It has extended over 

 ,3 years, and though I was not in the country 

 vhen regular forest conservancy was first intro- 

 luced under the auspices of Mr. (now Sir 

 Dietrich) Brandis, I arrived when it was still 

 |uite a small sapling, and I have seen it grow to 

 he mighty tree it is at present, under the wide- 

 preading shadow of which I have grown old. 

 Phis is my excuse for preparing a general de- 

 rrintion of the forests :md a vrsume of the in- 



troduction and growth of forestry in the British 

 Indian Empire, to the publication of which I 

 have obtained the consent of Government. I 

 am, however, solely responsible for the matter, 

 the form, and the opinions expressed." 



The present forests arc divided into various 

 types according to locality, ;ind each of these 

 types is discussed at some length 



Indian epics give accounts of the density ot 

 the forests at the time of the Arvau iuv.ulcrs. 

 2000 B.C.; from that time on demolition bv 

 man took place; later, the Mohamcdan con- 

 querors created great havoc bv wholesale burn- 

 ing of the forests for pasture lands. 



There is no doubt but what the climate has 

 suffered from those ravages, and tin- lainlall 

 also probably influenced. 



Officers of the Canal IK-partment can now 

 trace the source of Hoods o.mint; nom sii 

 flowing through denuded arc, is, in di-tinci 

 contrast to the much IIMM steadj flo 

 streams running tln<>ui;h protected loivsts. 



In i So-; <> something was dom- to protect the 

 Teak forests of Burmah for the use of the Bri 

 Navy ; and in iSj; in Homl>a\ , ami [856 in 

 Madras "conservators" of the an- 



