BOOK KEVIEWS. 



63 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



" The Practice of Forestry." By Percival Trentham Maw. 8vo., 

 503 pp. (Walter & Walter, Heatherside, Brockenhurst, Hants, 1909.) 

 17s. 6d, net. 



During the last few years a number of books have been written on 

 subjects connected with forestry — the outcome no doubt of the afforesta- 

 tion question. 



The present work is a valuable addition to those already published, 

 though the high price will no doubt considerably restrict its circulation 

 amongst those for whom it is specially intended. The subjects are very 

 broadly treated and more from a scientific than practical point of view, and 

 include almost all that is necessary for the student of forestry. There is 

 one sentence that we would like to emphasize and that is Mr. Maw's 

 remark that " As regards forestry education, I should like to express my 

 opinion that British foresters can only learn their forestry in this country." 

 No more truthful words were ever expressed, and it is to be hoped that in 

 conjunction with the afforesting of waste lands by the Crown this important 

 fact will be steadily borne in mind. 



The book is divided into eighteen chapters, some of the most important 

 being "The Financial Aspect of Afforestation," "Average Yields from 

 Forest Lands," " Natural Regeneration " and " As to the Choice of Trees 

 to Plant." The latter is a sadly neglected point in British forestry, and 

 mainly to this neglect is due the unproductive nature of many of our wood- 

 lands. The " Sylvicultural Notes on Timber Trees " contain little that is 

 new, and it is wrong to suppose that the Western Plane (Platanus occi- 

 dentalis) is at all common in this country. 



Regarding the "Forest Tables," that on quarter-girth measurement is 

 only an extension of Hopper's, while basal areas are little required. 



Altogether the work is a valuable one and reflects credit on the 

 compiler. 



" The Boy's Own Nature Book." By W. P. Westell, F.L.S., M.B.O.U. 

 8vo., 374 pp. (Religious Tract Society, London, 1908.) 3s. 6d. 



It is rather difficult to decide for what class of readers this book of 

 Mr. Westell's is intended. From its title one would certainly imagine 

 that it was for boys, but if so, what interest could Chapter II., consisting 

 of 28 pages, be to them ? It certainly contains many moral lessons 

 and appears to be intended for their teachers and not for them. Why 

 then insert it? One finds many half-tone figures taken from photo- 

 graphs which could not interest anyone but quite a child, such as a lamb, 

 a mare and her foal, a Jersey cow, evidently taken in a show-yard, a full- 

 faced view, which does not show the points of the animal. Some of the 

 notes in " Nature's Year " are very trivial, and not worth mentioning. In 

 commenting upon the many strange local names given to some birds, he 

 says, " The common partridge probably possesses the most curious name 



