BOOK REVIEWS 



601 



given full consideration. The scenic value 

 of trees and forests and the intimate rela- 

 tion that forest aesthetics bears to prac- 

 tical forestry are matters, it will be admitted, 

 that have hardly, thus far, been clearly 

 understood or even considered by the aver- 

 age forester. This neglect may be due to 

 force of circumstances the forester, indeed, 

 needs about all his strength and nerve to 

 cope with the problems that immediately 

 confront him or the condition may be 

 the result of that common impression, 

 though false, that forest use and forest 

 beauty are incompatible, and that these are 

 matters that should be handed over ex- 

 clusively to the landscape architect and the 

 lover of nature, Such readers, if there are 

 any, will find a strong argument to the con- 

 trary in the opening chapter of this book. 



The main object of the author is to show 

 the feasibility of a practical application of 

 his researches to economic forestry. He 

 endeavors to prove that beauty and use can 

 be made not only to harmonize, but that 

 each is complementary to the other and that 

 forest aesthetics is, in fact, an essential and 

 indispensable part of the highest develop- 

 ment of forestry. A marked characteris- 

 tic of the work are the ample explanations 

 and analysis of the ideas that are advanced, 

 and the innumerable citations from the 

 writings of other authors. 



The author's thorough knowledge of 

 aesthetics as well as of forest science in all 

 its branches, his excellent taste and insight, 

 and the actual application of his ideas, 

 carried out by himself during the past thirty- 

 five or forty years on his own forest 

 estates in East Prussia, have given him a 

 wide and thorough grasp of the subject. It 

 is a mark of the highest commendation that 

 the Prussian government has recently pro- 

 vided for the introduction of this work into 

 the libraries of all its forest reserves, some 

 eight hundred in number, besides thirty 

 others in those of the Province of Alsace 

 and Lorraine. 



The illustrations are clear and suggestive 

 although one regrets the absence of the at- 

 tractive heliotypes that were included in the 

 second edition. The exclusion in the present 

 edition appears to have been necessary to 

 keep the price of the book within reasonable 

 limits. An American or English reader 

 might urge the desirability of some conden- 

 sation in form and substance. Yet when 

 these and minor objections have been made 

 the essential excellence of the work remains 

 and it will take its place as one of large 

 scope and usefulness in the literature of 

 forestry. 



While it is true that much in this book is 

 applicable mainly to European forest condi- 

 tions and particularly to those of Germany, 

 it is very rich in suggestions for the Amer- 

 ican forester and many of the measures 

 explained might even today be applied with 

 us, where conditions and opportunities are 



in many respects even more varied than 

 those of Europe. 



FORESTRY. BY PROF. HERMAN H. CHAPMAN ; 

 CLOTH $1.25, POSTPAID. PUBLISHED BY THE 

 AMERICAN LUMBERMAN, CHICAGO, ILL. 



This is one of the most valuable of the 

 essentially practical publications on forestry 

 because it obtains a great store of informa- 

 tion which can be read with interest and 

 readily assimilated by lumbermen, timber- 

 land owners and others who with little or 

 no technical knowledge of the subject desire 

 plain, clearly understood information upon 

 it. No forester in the United States is 

 better fitted for writing such a book than 

 Professor Chapman, and each chapter is full 

 of logical statements of the progress of 

 forestry in this country. T he first part of the 

 book treats of the growth of the different 

 species, tells of the influences of the sea- 

 sons and the latt temperature ; another sec- 

 tion deals with natural reproduction and tells 

 how it may be encouraged. Silviculture, 

 forest mensuration, taxation, fire protection 

 and prevention are all discussed in a man- 

 ner which cannot fail to be interesting to 

 the reader and student. In fact there is 

 no phase of forestry which is overlooked 

 and the book should be in the hands of 

 every lumberman, timberland owner, student 

 and all lovers of trees and advocates of 

 forest conservation. 



IDENTIFICATION OF THE ECONOMIC WOODS OF 

 THE UNITED STATES, including a dis- 

 cussion of the Structural and Physical 

 Properties of Wood, by Samuel J. Rec- 

 ord, Assistant Professor of Forest 

 Products, Yale University, 1912, 8vo, vii 

 +117 pages, text figures 15, half-tone 

 plates 6, New York, John Wiley & Sons. 

 Price $1.25. 



Students and teachers of forestry will 

 welcome this little book, which deals in a 

 very clear and detailed manner with the 

 structural and physical properties of the 

 commercial woods of the United States. It 

 is designed primarily as a manual for stu- 

 dents of forestry, yet with a little study of 

 the text and illustrations laymen will find 

 it advantageous in the identification of our 

 native woods. Other published information 

 on the North American woods is very limited 

 and scattered. Forest Service Bulletin 10, 

 entitled, 'Timber," by Professor Roth, is the 

 only publication that directly approaches this 

 work in character. Professor Record's 

 book is not only an amplification of in- 

 formation contained in this bulletin, but it 

 embodies also much additional material of 

 interest and practical importance. 



About one-third of the text is devoted to 

 the anatomy of the woods of both conifers 

 and hardwoods. This includes a discus- 

 sion of the gross features of the stem from 

 pith to bark inclusive, and the microscopic 



