424 



NATURE 



[October 6, 1910 



especially those parts in it which may be described as 

 surgical and antiseptic, is an art strangely recent in 

 origin. Some of the practices of still living " tree- 

 doctors " (one may instance the leaving of a stump 

 " to draw the sap " when a branch or limb is sawn 

 off) betray a simple faith curiously reminiscent of the 

 methods of sixteenth-century practitioners on the 

 human frame. 



But owners of trees are, on the whole, content to let 

 them run their ordinary course, although nothing is 

 more certain than that by judicious treatment the 

 span of years of many trees may be extended by tens, 

 perhaps hundreds, of years. The value, of course, of 

 many such trees is a purely sentimental one. Yet 

 among individual living things trees seem to link the 

 centuries together more effectually than anything else. 

 What heart is not moved by the sight, and still more 

 bv the possession, of a tree under which it is known 

 some famous man of old, or even one's own forbears, 

 sat and mused. 



The author of this work is well known to those 

 in his own walk in life, as one of the most eminent 

 and trustworthy authorities on the subject in the 

 United States and Canada. And we may say at once 

 that this book fully bears out his reputation. It is a 

 pleasant change, after wading through much of the 

 ignorant twaddle that is nowadays so plentifully 

 offered to the tree-loving public, to come across a 

 book the author of which has (what, indeed, the un- 

 sophisticated might regard as essential) an adequate 

 knowledge of his subject. 



Mr. Fernow's object is, briefly, to interest his 

 readers in their trees, to give them some idea of how 

 they grow and do their work, and to give directions 

 for their cultivation and preservation. Much of what 

 he writes is more particularly applicable to the north- 

 eastern United States and the adjacent parts of 

 Canada, where the climatic conditions, especially in 

 relation to tree and shrub growth, are sufficiently dis- 

 similar to our own as to render some modification of 

 his recommendations necessary before they can be 

 adopted here. But his treatise, on the whole, is very 

 well worth study by those interested in the trees and 

 shrubs of English parks and gardens. 



We regret that the author thought it necessary to 

 give a sort of recommendation — although certainly a 

 half-hearted one — to the book on pruning written by 

 A. des Cars, nearly fifty years ago. Des Cars' system 

 of prunin^g is hopelessly discredited by now. As ap- 

 plied to trees grown solely for timber it was out of 

 the question for reasons of cost, and as applied to 

 the purely ornamental trees of gardens, the rigid 

 formality he advocated was absolutelv at variance with 

 the tastes of ninety-nine people out of a hundred. 



The latter part of this book is taken up with the 

 description of trees and with the consideration of their ' 

 respective value and treatment. It is somewhat 

 cursorily done, and is the least satisfactory part, in 

 that it is far from free of errors. The horse chestnut, 

 for instance, is not Chinese (p. 250), nor is Primus 

 pissardii Japanese (p. 304). The author has sadly 

 confused the Pvrus sinensis of Lindley, a true pear, 

 with the common Cydotiia japonica, which is, of 

 course, a quince (p. 297). It is a remarkable 

 NO. 2136, VOL. 84] 



lapse to recommend rhododendrons for calcareous 

 soils, which, with the exception of one or 

 two species, they abhor (p. 372). The list of 

 " shrubs fit for rock gardens " is strangely 

 inadequate (p. 373). About a dozen plants are men- 

 tioned, half of which are absolutely unfitted for any 

 ordinary rock garden, whilst the scores of dainty 

 shrubs, mainly alpine, the neatness of habit and slow 

 growth of which render them peculiarly fitted for such 

 a position, are quite ignored. Errors in spelling, too, 

 are numerous. 



In view of the thoughtless and ignorant outcry 

 which is usually set up in the daily Press whenever 

 the removal or thinning, or even lopping, of trees in 

 public places is done, it was a happy thought to quote 

 a letter written by J. R. Lowell to the president of 

 Harvard University in 1863. The following words 

 will bear repeating : — 



"Something ought to be done about the trees in the 

 college yard. They remind me always of a young 

 author's first volume of poems; there are too many of 

 'em and too many of one kind. If they were not 

 planted in such formal rows, they would typify very 

 well John Bull's notion of ' our democracy,' where 

 every tree is its neighbour's enemy, and all turn out 

 scrubs in the end, because none can develop fairly. . . . 

 We want to learn that one fine tree is worth more 

 than any mob of second-rate ones. Do prav take this 

 matter into your own hands — for you know how to 

 love a tree — and give us a modern instance of a wise 

 saw." 



THE MAKING OF BEET-SUGAR. 

 Beet Sugar Making and its Chemical Control. By 

 Y. Nikaido. Pp. xii -1-354. (Easton, Pa.: The 

 Chemical Publishing Co. ; London : Williams and 

 Norgafe, Ltd., 1909.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 



I^HE aim of this work, the author remarks, is to 

 aid those who are starting on a career of beet- 

 sugar manufacture, but who lack systematic training 

 in the technique thereof. 



In principle, the production of sugar from beetroots 

 is a simple matter. The sugar and other soluble 

 bodies are extracted from the sliced roots by diffu- 

 sion in water ; the juice thus obtained is purified from 

 acids and other objectionable matter by "defecation" 

 with lime, and after the excess of lime has been re- 

 moved bv treatment with carbonic acid, the liquor is 

 concentrated by evaporation until the sugar crystal- 

 lises out. Whilst, however, there is nothing compli- 

 cated about the principle, successful and profitable 

 production depends upon close attention to a number 

 of points in respect of which the chemist's help is 

 needed. 



These points Mr. Nikaido describes and explains 

 at length. The essential part of the book is contained 

 in one chapter — the eighth. This is devoted to ex- 

 pounding the "practical operation," i.e. management, 

 "of a beet-sugar house." It sets forth the various 

 steps involved, from harvesting the beets to packing 

 the sugar, and gives details of the chemical examina- 

 tions necessary for the proper control of the pro- 

 cesses. The descriptions bear the stamp of prac- 

 ticality, and the value of the book in actual work is 

 enhanced by a series of useful tables. In the last 



