48b 



NATURE 



[January 2, 1913 



women are taking- in the useful work of the world. 

 I'arents will find helpful guidance here as to the 

 education of their daughters and the opportunities 

 available for them to obtain remunerative labour 

 later in life. The volume should be in the hands 

 of every woman worker. 



"The Writers' and Artists' Year Book," in addi- 

 tion to being a handy index to periodical literature, 

 places at the disposal of writers, artists and photo- 

 graphers useful guidance in the matter of dispos- 

 ing of their work satisfactorily. 



The Beginner in Poultry. The Zest and the Profit 



in Poultry Growing. By C. S. Valentine. Pp. 



X + 450. (New York : The Macmillan Company ; 



London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., igi^-) Price 



6x. 6d. net. 

 Bv the time the " beginner " has read this book 

 he might well think himself something more than 

 a beginner. The keynote of the work is sympathy, 

 and once possessing that, it is hard indeed if one 

 cannot make a success of any hobby in live stock. 

 Naturally, the suggestions as to management are 

 more suited to the States than to this country, but 

 the reader who wishes to take a broad view of 

 aviculture, and is already conversant with the 

 ins and outs of the daily routine, will find much 

 food for reflection by a careful study of many of 

 the chapters. We would specially commend to the 

 powers that be section 22 on poultry schools. 

 When one knows of the hard struggle for existence 

 some of our educational work has had, and the 

 scant support our own Board of Agriculture can 

 offer, it makes one feel somewhat envious of the 

 magnificent grants that are so freely available on 

 the other side. The writer of this notice has had 

 the good fortune to take part in some of the 

 courses alluded to, and knows that such experts as 

 are engaged at Cornell and Corvallis, &c., are past 

 masters in the poultry world, and heartily endorses 

 much of what the book says on this question. 



Th^ work contains some 450 pages, and is pro- 

 fusely illustrated, though several of the reproduc- 

 tions are not quite up to the high standard one 

 usually sees in the American Press. Perhaps the 

 author's other book, "How to Keep Hens at a 

 Profit," should be read first. The present volume 

 is rather for the library or student; it does not 

 cater for the exhibitor. Its value is rather to the 

 thinker, and he who thinks is he who rules. 



The Montessori Svstem in Theory and Practice. 



By Dr. Theodatc L. Smith.' Pp. vii + jcS. 



(New York and London : Harper Brothers, 



1912.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 

 In the review of Madame Montessori 's recent 

 book describing her method of scientific pedagogy 

 as applied to child education in "The Children's 

 Houses," published in Nature on September 26 

 last (vol. xc, p. 99), some account was given of 

 the system. It is sufficient to say of Dr. Smith's 

 little volume that it provides a convenient intro- 

 duction to the methods advocated by Madame 

 Montessori, and some reports of American experi- 

 ence of their adoption. 



xo. 2253, VOL. go] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by Jiis correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



British Forestry and the Development Commission. 



It is niort: than two years since the Development 

 Commission obtained its fine grant of 500,000^. 

 yearly for five years. There have been Parliamentary 

 grants in addition ; thus 900,000/. was available the 

 first year. Said The Times : "The Development Fund 

 is a remarkable departure from the laissez-faire policy 

 which has so long dominated the proceedings of 

 British Governments." It was early announced that 

 one of the chief objects of the Development Commis- 

 sion was British forestry, including the purchase and 

 planting of land. One small piece of poor ground in 

 Scotland represents all the land that has yet been 

 acquired in Britain ; and foresters are beginning to 

 inquire if we have really broken away from the bad 

 traditions of the past. British forestry has never had 

 such an opportunity as this half-million grant. Will 

 anything practical be done before it is too late and the 

 grant come to an end, because nothing practical has been 

 achieved? It is true that there have been useful 

 educational grants ; and promises of loans for forestry, 

 on liberal terms, to " local authorities or other re- 

 sponsible bodies " : but this, without State forestry, is 

 putting the cart before the horse. As is well known, 

 the communal forests on the Continent carry a class . 

 of forest inferior to the State forests, and they are 

 only kept up to this standard by either State super- 

 vision or their management by State forest officers, 

 combined with the stiffening effect of the better 

 managed State forests in their midst. 



For fifty years British State forestry has been stand- 

 ing still. Excellent schemes have been prepared. 

 There have been innumerable Parliamentary Com- 

 mittees and reports ! Three quite good British schools 

 of forestrv training have been established, and, alas ! 

 abolished, in spite of the excellent training they were 

 giving. There remains now but one State forest 

 school, the useful institution for instructing wood- 

 men in the Forest of Dean. In the successive 

 abandonment of these Government forest schools we 

 see the want of a permanent forest authority to 

 defend them against the vacillations of political con- 

 trol. 



The onus of this failure in forestry — and forestry is 

 perhaps the greatest of the modern arts — lies in the 

 hesitancy of the Britisher to accept State forestry. 

 It is tolerablv certain that no material progress in 

 British forestry will ever be made without State 

 forestry, which is the kernel and lith of the whole 

 business. There are two reasons why we must accept 

 .State forestrv. Onlv the State can obtain money at 

 a low enough rate of interest (2A or 3 per cent.) to 

 make forestrv pay in this climate of low sun-power. 

 Only the State lias the "unending life," viz. a life 

 long enough for successful forest management. .\ 

 private owner cannot be expected to plant trees for 

 the public good with onlv the prospect of an uncertain 

 2 or 3 per cent., going to his son, his grandson, or 

 even his great-grandson. Further, forestry, like so 

 manv other industries, must be done on a large scale 

 to vield good returns. 



Most of the opposition to State forests is no doubt 

 due to ignorance of what they are. To the uninitiated 

 they may look much like the wild forest that, in parts 

 (if the world, has to be largely cut down to make 



