32 
PLORA AND SYLVA 
print, or the tinshiny paper which is itself 
an eyesore in more ways than one. It is a 
very precious thing to be able to try and 
develop the beauty of one's city, and while 
we congratulate the reporter on the zeal and 
ability which are embodied in his suggestions, 
we think a report like this, which must stand 
as a record of important work, deserved a 
better fate than that of being illustrated with 
bad photographs poorly printed on glazed 
paper. The modern printer often looks upon 
a book got up in this way as a triumph of 
that " evolution " of which we hear so much 
nowadays, being ignorant, perhaps, of the fact 
that he is going back to utter badness of type, 
paper, and effect of page. The talk of garden 
city companies is one of the most foolish 
ideas perhaps ever emitted, because our 
country is full of beautiful garden cities 
already, which only want developing. Still, 
good must come of it, and we see some of 
the fruit in this book, showing what may be 
hoped for in one of these Scotch cities which 
are not always remarkable for beauty. There 
is no doubt an enormous deal of beauty and 
convenience lost by cities not being carefully 
thought out at first. Those concerned with 
the improvement of cities should not limit 
their range of view to what is done in Eng- 
land, because we see in London and elsewhere 
fine opportunities neglected. Paris is an 
example of a well-planned city ; but we think 
the German cities, where not nearly so much 
noise is made about improvements, are fully 
as well worth seeing. Only this year Dresden 
struck us very much in many ways, particu- 
larly its arrangement of airy streets, perfect 
paving and footways, and cleanliness. As 
regards the particular subject of this book, 
it is difficult for one who does not know the 
situation to give other than a general opinion. 
ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY. By 
A. C. Forbes. (Edwin Arnold.) 
The author of this book is Lecturer on 
Forestry at the Durham College of Science, 
and was formerly Forester at Longleat ; he 
ought, therefore, to know his subject well. 
In the first chapters he reviews the past, 
present, and future of English forestry : the 
remainder of the book deals with such subjects 
as timber, trees, and methods of growing tfiem, 
woodland work and working plans, landscape 
forestry, and park timber. The book is illus- 
trated by rather poor photographs on the now 
usual shiny paper. Like so many of the 
recent books on forestry, the language used 
is neither simple nor clear, the free use of 
such new words as " sylviculture," " arbori- 
culture," and the like, leading to English 
which is far from pure, and words about 
"ornamental " woods, "sylvicultural " woods, 
and " arboricultural " woods, only confuses 
a very simple subject. Some of the most 
beautiful trees are those that are grown solely 
for timber, as we see them in Scotland, 
Germany, and France — as in the forests of 
Bercy, Marly, and Fontainbleau. As to drain- 
ing, we notice with pleasure that the author 
makes a mild protest against the waste in that 
way, the right plan being to grow the trees 
that suit the conditions of soil, and not to 
drain beyond making open " dicks " in bad 
places. The author doubts (p. 62) whether 
the Oak is worth growing as a timber tree 
for profit, because, as he says, " it is a slow- 
growing forest tree " ; but there is evidence 
to show that in good Oak-growing districts 
it is a quick-growing tree, there being no 
wood grown in Britain that gives so certain 
or so good a return. Like many other modern 
writers, he is very happy with the big word 
"evolution," even to speaking of the "Evolu- 
tion of the Estate Forester." To return to 
the question of " ornamental woods " — as if 
all woods were not ornamental in the best 
sense ; many woods which are entirely re- 
garded for their timber value, are beautiful 
whether viewed close at hand or otherwise. 
Upon the vast uplands planted for timber in 
Bavaria and Bohemia, the beauty imparted 
to the landscape by the forests is extraordinary, 
whether upon mountain, moor, or poor hill- 
land ; this is a far nobler beauty than is ever 
obtained by the so-called ornamental'''' plant- 
ing, which too often makes for ugliness, with 
its stuck-about and isolated trees. A good 
handbook of forestry should strive to show 
the unity of woodland work, rather than use 
words of foreign origin and misleading 
attempts at definition, which are confusing 
to the beginner when the difference, if any, 
is only one of degree. The phrase " Estate- 
forest " implies that there is another kind of 
forestry ; whereas there is only one forestry, 
be it on 50 acres or 1,000, on a gentleman's 
estate or on a wild mountain side. 
