366 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



manufacturing establishments as those which 

 have made Grand Rapids noted as a furniture 

 center, but through the connection between 

 her forests and water supply, farms and or- 

 chards, and her mines and railroads. The 

 report brings these points out clearly, and 

 should do much toward educating the mass of 

 the people into a cordial support of the work 

 to which the members of the commission are 

 pledged. 



The Principal Species of Wood : Their Character- 

 istic Properties. By CHARLES HENRY 

 SNOW. John Wiley & Sons, N. Y. Pp. 

 203. Illustrated with 39 half-tone plates 

 and a large number of helpful text figures. 

 Price, 13.50. 



The author of this work has produced a book 

 of a distinctly new type, designed particularly 

 for the instruction of woodworkers and other 

 users of such material, on the distinguishing 

 characteristics of the principal American and 

 a number of foreign woods An admirable 

 feature of the book is the presentation of tech- 

 nical information in a popular style, and we 

 believe the author has succeeded in making 

 his subjects clear to the layman. No attempt 

 is made to give exhaustive descriptions of 

 species. The author has aimed rather to 

 acquaint the reader with the wood and botan- 

 ical characteristics of all of the important 

 genera of trees, such as the Oaks, Ashes, Maples, 

 Pines, Spruces, Firs, etc., met with in commerce. 

 Brief attention is also given to the great classes 

 to which arborescent plants belong Exogens 

 and Endogens. A full enumeration of all the 

 important timber species is given and a host 

 of useful information is brought together in 

 concise form under each, including particular 

 mention of the uses, qualities, mechanical and 

 distinguishing features of the wood. Some 

 125 or more species of native and exotic trees 

 are thus treated. The excellent half-tone 

 composite plates illustrate the characteristic 

 habit (crown and trunk) of the tree in nature, 

 a representative species in each genus being 

 chosen ; the characteristics of the bark and of 

 the wood are also clearly shown in connection. 

 The reader cannot fail to receive much assist- 

 ance from this book in becoming acquainted 

 with our common and useful timber trees. 

 The author wisely admits the possibility of 

 errors in getting together so much technical 

 information, but we note only two slips of 

 importance, which should be corrected in a 

 future edition. Plate 1 7 looks suspiciously like 

 Salix babylonica, while "Plate 18 (Catalpa)" 

 is mainly Paulozvnia iniperalis, only the figure 

 at the lower left-hand corner illustrating 

 Catalpa. 



Journal of the Columbus Horticultural Society, 

 1902. Pp. 154. Illustrated by half-tones. 

 Published by the Society at Columbus, 

 Ohio. 



Four numbers of the quarterly journal of 

 the Horticultural Society make up the volume 

 and the report for the year. They comprise the 

 proceedings of the society, reports and papers 

 read, etc. They show a successful year for the 



society and for horticultural work in the state, 

 with considerable attention paid to questions 

 of forestry. 



The Mountains of California. By JOHN MUIR, 

 Pp. 381. Illustrated by 54 engravings and 

 maps. Published by the Century Co. , New 

 York. Price, $1.50. 



No other person is so well fitted to write of 

 the mountains of California as John Muir, 

 whose life among them has given his character 

 the rugged yet beautiful characteristics of the 

 Sierras. The Century Company has issued a 

 new edition of this great work, which tells not 

 only of the mountains themselves, but of the 

 trees that clothe them and the wild life which 

 they harbor. Next to a visit to the Golden 

 State, where one is never out of sight of moun- 

 tains, this book will give the best appreciation 

 of the beauties of the Coast Range, the high 

 Sierras, and the ranges of the southern part of 

 the state. As a "nature book," this work 

 ranks higher than most of those which have 

 been written in the more recent renascence of 

 this sort of literature. 



Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Northeastern 

 United States. By H. E. PARKHURST. Pp. 

 York : Chas. Scribner's Sons. Price, $1.50- 

 451. With over 100 illustrations. New 

 net. (Postage, 12 cents.) 



In this book the author describes the trees, 

 shrubs, and vines of the northeastern United 

 States in a popular way, the book being de- 

 signed especially for persons who have never 

 studied botany. To these it will appeal as a 

 valuable guide to a familiarity with the salient 

 characteristics of trees, shrubs, and vines. 



Mr. Parkhurst has taken as a background 

 for his description of the subject matter the 

 collection of trees, shrubs, and vines in Central 

 Park, New York, and it is interesting to note 

 that this is the first time that a complete de- 

 scription of those contained in the park has 

 been published. He considers the collection 

 to be the most representative one to be found 

 in this country. 



The volume contains accounts of a series of 

 botanical excursions in Central Park, with 

 descriptions of the various growths seen and 

 examined. These chapters are among the best 

 popular nature studies we have yet seen. 



The Story of the Trapper. By A. C. LAUT. 



Pp. 284. Illustrated. Published by D. 



Appleton & Company, New York. Price, 



$i 25. (Postage, i2c. ) 



This book, by the author of "Heralds of 

 Empire " and " Lords of the North," forms a 

 part of Appleton's Story of the West Series. 

 In it Miss Laut has told in a vivid narrative 

 the story of the trapper, whose work as a fore- 

 runner of civilization is here given full and de- 

 served credit. The accounts are thrilling and 

 all ring true, as written by one who knows the 

 conditions and has no need to go for interest 

 past the simplest facts. In addition to the 

 histories of the trading companies, the book 

 gives a prose epic of the trapper's life. 



