1176 



Notices of Books. 



[Mar., 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Forest Products —Their Manufacture and Use. — (Nelson 

 Courtland Brown. London: Messrs. Chapman & Hall. Price 21s.). This 

 book deals with the commercial aspect of the manufacture and use, in the 

 United States of America, of all important forest products with the exception 

 of lumber, and is intended as a brief treatise, preliminary to a more exhaustive 

 work or group of books to be written at a future date. It is the work of one 

 whose connection with the American Timber Trade Commission and Depart- 

 ment of Commerce should render him well qualified to deal with his subject, 

 and who has spared no pains to ensure the accuracy of his statements by 

 obtaining the views of specialists in those branches of industry with which 

 he deals. In consequence of the difference between conditions obtaining in 

 the United States of America and those met with in Great Britain, both as to 

 market requirements, labour, and the supply of raw material, it is but natural 

 that this interesting book, written by an American, and dealing with North 

 American conditions, should have little diiect bearing upon such problems in 

 the disposal of home-grown timber as arise in the British Isles. The volume 

 will appeal, therefore, rather to the general reader than to the serious student 

 of British forestry, who will be interested in it mainly in so far as it suggests 

 future possibilities in the development of forest industries in these islands, 

 and weighty considerations bearing upon the formulation of forest plans. 



The opening chapter of the book comprises a brief resume of the American 

 situation as regards the consumption and supply of timber, and in calling 

 particular attention to the wastage consequent upon the ordinary methods of 

 lumbering serves to emphasize the importance of the conservation of timber 

 resources, and the elimination of that waste in manufacture which is shown 

 in the subsequent chapters of the book to be at almost all times considerable, 

 and which, in view of the present decreasing reserves of available timber, 

 deserves serious consideration. 



The plan adopted by the author has been to allot one chapter of the book 

 to each forest product and therein give a brief historical statement followed 

 by a concise and remarkably complete summary of the methods adopted in its 

 handling, manufacture and disposal, together with, in most cases, specifications 

 of both raw material and finished product, and important and interesting 

 statistical information, conveniently arranged in tabular form, as to the 

 importance of the commodity, the prices both of finished product and raw 

 material, costs and efficiency in manufacture, and a statement of the labour 

 employed per unit of production. The latter statement, in particular, should 

 be of value for purposes of comparison with results obtained in similar 

 operations in this country. The amount of technical detail given in the 

 description of the manufacture and handling of each product should suffice in 

 all cases to give the reader a true appreciation of the main mechanical and 

 financial considerations involved. 



The chapters having the most useful information bearing upon present 

 conditions in the British Isles, as regards utilization of existing timber and 

 scrub- wood, or preparations for future crops are, perhaps, those on the Pulp 

 and Paper Industry, Wood Distillation, Fuel Wood, and Slack and Tight 

 Cooperage, whilst the remarks on the Tanning and Charcoal-Burning Industries 



