BOOK REVIEWS. 



135 



" Firewoods : their Production and Fuel Values." By A. D. Webster. 

 La. 8vo. ix -f 95 pp. (Fisher Unwin, London, 1919.) 125. 6d. net. 



Renewed attention has perforce been directed to the use of wood as fuel, and 

 where it can be procured who would not rather have a wood fire than a coal one ? 

 This book contains a great deal of valuable information concerning the relative 

 values of various woods as fuel and a reprint of the wood-fuel order issued under 

 D.O.R.A. A cheap edition would find a wider public. 



"Commercial Forestry in Britain: Its Decline and Revival." By E. P. 

 Stebbing. 8vo. vi + 186 pp. (John Murray, London, 1919.) 6s.net. 



Amongst the many books that have of late appeared on the important 

 question of afforestation and our timber supplies " Commercial Forestry " 

 must hold first place. It is candid, moderate, and written by one who has 

 evidently studied the subjects in all its phases. 



For convenience of reference the book is divided into three parts — the past, 

 the War period, and the future. These are again sub-divided into various 

 chapters, which give in a very concise manner the history of our woodlands 

 and what we know of the old forests of our country, their past history, and the 

 cause of their present absence. 



Commencing with the Roman period, when Julius Caesar described the 

 face of England as " one horrible wood," the history of British forestry up to 

 the passing of the " Statute of Enclosure " in 1482 is quickly reviewed, fuller details 

 being given from that date to the appointment of a Parliamentary Committee 

 on Forestry in 1885, and onwards to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. 

 To those who are interested in our timber supplies, it is sad to read of the whole- 

 sale devastation of our woods that took place during the Civil War, or from 

 about the beginning of the fifteenth century on to the Restoration, when whole 

 forests were razed to the ground or laid waste by the most ruthless destruction. 



From the evidence of John Evelyn in England, from the statement of various 

 writers of authority in Scotland, and from authentic Irish records, extensive 

 and valuable forests extended throughout the three kingdoms up to the be- 

 ginning of the sixteenth or middle of the seventeenth century. From that date 

 onwards we have many accounts of wholesale and wanton destruction, to which 

 the attention of successive Governments was in vain directed. Cromwell recog- 

 nized the importance of preserving our woodlands and appointed woodreeves 

 to look after the valuable forests of oak that were becoming fast denuded in 

 Central and Western Ireland, from which in 161 1 no less than 20,000 trees were 

 marked for the King's use in two of the southern counties. 



In Scotland, which was originally well wooded, we find that a dearth of 

 timber was being felt, and in the early years of the seventeenth century, ex- 

 tensive planting operations were undertaken by the far-seeing Duke of Atholl 

 and other enterprising landowners, and to-day these are the very plantations 

 from which the finest coniferous timber for carrying on the War was obtained. 

 On no less than seven occasions during the past thirty- two years has the question 

 of afforestation been brought before Parliament, while private conferences 

 would about treble that number. 



The present Afforestation Scheme has been fully gone into by Mr. Stebbing, 

 and our views quite coincide with his, that not only is the proposed area — 1,700,000 

 acres — too small, but the period over which the planting is to be engaged is too 

 long to be of any practical value in the near future with reference to our timber 

 demands. Originally our own suggestion was that 5,000,000 acres should be 

 planted, but strong opposition caused us to reduce the area to 3,000,000, and 

 latterly to 1,000,000 acres, the whole to be planted in twenty-five years. 



Regarding State-owned forests, this is a point with which we are in full 

 accord, as only the State can provide the necessary capital or acquire land on 

 the most favourable terms and in sufficient quantity for any large scheme of 

 afforestation, and the resources and continuity of a nation will always make 

 it the best custodian of forest property. Private individuals labour under 

 many disadvantages, particularly in the length of time required before the 

 money expended on planting can be even partially repaid. Forest education 

 and schools of forestry come in for a share of attention, but though we are by 

 no means averse to " a sound, scientific training in the theory of the subject," 

 yet let this be in conjunction with the practical, for past experience and the 

 present condition of Scottish woods clearly point out that in order to produce 

 the best class of foresters, a thorough training on a well timbered estate is 

 absolutely necessary. We cannot agree with the author when he condemns 

 notch planting with the spade as a pernicious practice, for have not many of 

 the most successful northern woods, and from which the finest larch and Scotch 

 fir timber for war purposes were obtained, been so formed ? But altogether 



