A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



" To the soli a ground 

 Of Nature trusts the mind zuhich builds for aye. 



-Wordsworth. 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1S93. 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 

 British Forest Trees. By J. Nisbet, D.CEc. (London : 

 .Macmillan and Co., 1893.) 



WITH the exception of Dr. Schlich's able " Manual 

 of Forestry," of which two volumes are now be- 

 fore the public, the English student of arboriculture has 

 for many years past been almost entirely dependent on 

 French and German works for recent information as 

 regards the progress of that part of the art of forestry 

 which deals with the cultivation of our native and intro- 

 duced trees. The present work is a praiseworthy attempt 

 to remedy this state of dependence, and to provide 

 British foresters with a text-book which shall give the 

 results of modern experience in an English dress. 



The plan of the work is simple and to the point. After 

 briefly summarising the history of British forests — too 

 briefly, perhaps, will be the opinion of some— the author 

 proceeds to enumerate the chief forest-trees of our 

 country. To those who miss any reference to some of 

 the minor and unimportant woody plants growing in our 

 hedges, it should be pointed out that the principal forms 

 met with as underwood or coppice are treated separ- 

 ately at the end of the book ; while those who feel 

 any surprise at the introduction of several European 

 (but not British) and American trees, especially 

 conifers, should bear in mind that these have been 

 so much planted in England and Scotland of late years, 

 that no work on British forestry can afford to neglect 

 them. Mr. Nisbet seems to have carefully stated what 

 is necessary in this connection. 



The next sections of the book deal with the important 

 and very interesting subjects of forest growth in rela- 

 tion to soil, the growth of timber in general, and com- 

 parative considerations regarding the growth of forest 

 I trees. 



It may perhaps be doubted whether the author has 

 j succeeded in stating anything new in this connection, 

 i beyond what has already been put forward in other text- 

 books, and it is admitted that the sources of the informa- 

 NO. 1253, VOL. 49] 



tion are almost entirely continental, especially German. 

 Perhaps the chief merit of these parts of the book is the 

 author's manner of putting the facts ; for, on the whole, 

 they read well and consecutively, and no student of 

 sylviculture can fail to profit by them. 



Sylviculture— and the same is true of forestry in 

 general — is a subject about which much can be written 

 and said, and the temptation to be prolix is great, with 

 such materials. The authcrr's conscientious acknowledg- 

 ments of the sources of his quoted tables and experi- 

 mental data may certainly be put to his credit ; and al- 

 though we may doubt whether any practical forester will 

 accept all the statements unreservedly— for foresters, 

 like farmers, are often somewhat apt to generalise too 

 widely from individual experience in one part of a 

 country— few will deny that Mr. Nisbet has succeeded 

 in putting forward very plainly a large amount of in- 

 formation about the sylvicultural aspects of forests in 

 general. The chief fault to be found with this part of 

 the book is, perhaps, that the experience on which the 

 statements are based is almost entirely German, whereas 

 there is really a great deal to be said about the be- 

 haviour and treatment of forests in this climate as 

 well. 



The principal, and by far the greater part of the book 

 however, is concerned with the treatment of the several 

 species of forest trees in detail. Here, again, the British 

 cultivator will doubtless raise the objection that the 

 author almost entirely confines himself to the experience 

 of foresters in Germany ; but it is more and more borne 

 in upon the reader that there is reason in this, in so far 

 that several really great authorities on the cultivation 

 of trees have arisen in that country, whereas it would be 

 difficult to name any in this country. 



Be this as it may, there can be no question that Mr. 

 Nisbet has succeeded in collecting a very large amount 

 of valuable information regarding the experience of 

 foresters as to what trees will grow in certain situations, 

 how fast they may be expected to grow there, and how 

 much timber they may be made to yield if properly 

 treated ; as to what trees should preferably be grown to- 

 gether in mixed forests, and why such and such mixtures 

 are undesirable ; and, further, to what dangers given 



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