304 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



July, 



in India, the West Indies, and the south- 

 ern part of the United States. In India 

 the fruit is used ver}' generally as a food. 

 The whole tree contains a milky, viscid 

 juice, which possesses powerful digest- 

 ive properties due to the presence of an 



active principle, papain. The papain 

 may be separated from the j uice by pre- 

 cipitation with alcohol and retains its 

 medicinal properties after being dried. 

 In India the juice is also used as a cos- 



metic and vermifuge. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



The Desert : Further Studies in Natural Appear- 

 ances. By John C. Van Dvkk. Pp. 233. 

 Cloth. Charles Scribner'sSons, New York. 

 Price, $1.25 net. 



At this time, when an unusual amount of 

 interest is being shown in the reclamation of 

 the arid regions of the West, "The Desert," 

 by John C. Van Dyke, comes as a timely book. 

 While written with the avowed purpose of de- 

 scribing the " beauties " of the desert, as seen 

 through an artist s eye, the book nevertheless 

 will greatly interest the general reader. 



The author spent two years in the southwest 

 exploring and studying in the Colorado and 

 Mojave deserts, and his book contains a most 

 vivid description of that great, silent countrj'. 

 The formation of the desert, its animal, bird, 

 and plant life are all described in a charming 

 manner. Mr. Van Dyke, through his love of 

 "nature undefiled by man," no doubt sees 

 more beauty in the desert than does the aver- 

 age person who visits it. In fact, he is an 

 enthusiast and champion for the desert. 



The author opposes the idea of reclaiming 

 the desert, advancing the argument that by 

 turning it into "an agricultural tract would 

 introduce humidity and nullify the finest air 

 on the continent." However, there is but 

 little danger of such a result, from the fact 

 that only a very small portion of the desert 

 can be reclaimed. 



His real objection is seen where he speaks 

 of the " destruction of natural beauty " by our 

 "practical men." They are treated in these 

 words: "Men must have coal, though they 

 ruin the valleys and blacken the streams of 

 Pennsylvania ; they must have oil, though 

 they disfigure half of Ohio and Indiana ; they 

 must have copper, if they wreck all the moun- 

 tains of Montana and Arizona, and they must 

 have gold, though they blow Alaska into the 

 Behring Sea. They have stripped the land of 

 its robes of beauty ; and what have they given 

 in place? Weeds, wire fences, oil derricks, 

 board .shanties, and board towns ; and at last 

 they have turned to the desert ! " 



It must be admitted that man has in many 

 instances marred the beauty of the land, but 

 in turn produces many usefiil things, and we 

 agree with Victor Hugo when he says that 

 "the useful is as beautiful as the beautiful." 

 Man will change only small portions of the 

 desert's area, and very little of its natural 

 beauty will ever be destroyed. On the other 

 hand, we are of the opinion that prosperous 

 agricultural communities here and there on 



the desert's present broad area will add to, 

 rather than detract from, its sombre face. 



Though one may disagree with the author's 

 idea of the utility of the desert, there is no de- 

 nying that he has written a book that con- 

 tains an unusually graphic description of a 

 section of the country that is now attracting 

 widespread attention. "The Desert" is writ- 

 ten with all the charm of style that made his 

 "Nature for Its Own Sake" and "Art for 

 Art's Sake " so popular. 



Forest Reserve Manual : For the Information and 

 Use of Forest Officers. Published by the 

 General Land Office, Department of the 

 Interior. Pp. 90. 



The " Forest Reserve Manual," recently is- 

 sued by the General Land Office, with the ap- 

 proval of the Secretary of the Interior, contains 

 a carefully prepared set of rules governing the 

 administration of the forest reserves. It was 

 written by Prof. Filibert Roth, Chief of Divis- 

 ion R of the General Land Office, and Mr. 

 Edward T. Allen, Inspector of Forest Reserves. 



This manual contains the rules to be observed 

 by the various forest officers in the discharge 

 of their duties, information regarding the sale 

 of timber in the forest reserves, and the rules 

 governing the free use of timber. For the 

 guidance of superintendents, supervi.sors, and 

 rangers, there are blank forms of applications 

 for all special privileges, rules regarding the 

 scaling, marking, and estimating of timber, and 

 many other matters likely to come up in the 

 administration of the forest reserves. The 

 manual further contains instructions regarding 

 the penalties for violations of the forest reserve 

 laws. 



The ' ' Forest Reserve Manual ' ' should prove 

 of great assistance to forest officers in the field. 

 The rules are clearly drawn, and are likely to 

 have a good effect in bringing reports from the 

 field to the authorities at Washington in a more 

 prompt and efficient manner. The manual will 

 likely prove of decided value in developing this 

 important service. 



It is an attractive little volume, bound in red 

 leather, with alternating blank pages for notes, 

 and is of convenient size for carrying in the 

 pocket. 



The Kindred of the Wild: A Book of Animal 



Life. By Ch.iri.es G. D. Roberts. Pp. 



374, 50 illustrations. L. C. Page & Co., 



Boston. Price, $2. 



Readers of that delightful book, " The Heart 



