BOOK REVIEWS. 
537 
Several useful tables are given, and the vexed question of measuring timber 
is touched upon. It would have been useful had the author given some notes 
on trees and soil, hillside and seaside planting, trees for economic planting, and 
the formation and tending of game coverts. Our experience with reference 
to the larch disease or "canker" is that mixed hard-wooded sections are just 
as badly attacked as are the pure woodlands or where only larch is used. The 
book, which is rather poorly illustrated, should be found of value to the young 
forester in particular, though even those further advanced in that profession 
will find much of interest in its pages. 
" Seeding and Planting." A Manual for the Guidance of Forestry Students, 
Foresters, Nurserymen, Forest Owners, and Farmers. By James W. Tourney. 
8vo. 455 pp. (Wiley, New York; Chapman & Hall, London, 1916.) 16s. 6d. net. 
This is by far the most practical and exhaustive work that has yet been pub- 
lished on that most important of forestry operations — collecting and harvesting 
tree seeds and raising the seedling plants. Every detail, from the choice of trees 
from which the best seeds may be collected, through all the intricacies of storing, 
preparing, and sowing the seeds, attending to the seed beds, transplanting, and 
final planting out, are minutely dealt with, and in such a way that one in reading 
the various chapters is impressed by the genuineness of the information that is 
so well and pleasantly imparted. To the casual observer the raising of seedling 
forest trees may appear a simple matter, but such, in reality, is far from the case ; 
the responsibilities attending choice of seeds, extraction of these from the cones 
or other seed vessel, storing in such a way that heating or rotting is avoided, 
preparation of suitable seed beds, best methods of sowing and preserving the 
seeds from vermin, attending to the young seedlings, and keeping them free from 
insect and fungus pests, transplanting in order that fibrous roots and bushy 
plants may be the outcome, and finally lifting, " sheughing," and transplanting 
to their permanent positions, being only a part of the many operations that require 
skilful management at the hands of the nurseryman. The chapter on " Establish- 
ing Forests by Direct Seeding," which, by the way, has never proved a success 
in this country, is common-sense and lucid, and may well be successfully carried 
out in the natural forest, while the notes on tree-planting cannot be too widely 
appreciated, particularly with reference to too deep planting, bending, and crowd- 
ing the roots and necessity for firming the soil about the roots. But altogether 
the book, which extends to 445 pages, with 140 well-executed illustrations, is one of 
particular value to the student of forestry, and particularly at the present time, 
when a dearth of both seeds and seedling plants has been occasioned by the war. 
" Canning and Bottling : Simple Methods of Preserving Fruit and 
Vegetables." By Dr. Helen P. Goodrich. 8vo. x + 70 pp. (Longmans, 
Green, London, 191 8.) Stiff covers, 2s. 
The author compares the value of tins with bottles for the preserving of fruits 
and vegetables, to the advantage of the former. She gives directions for the 
preserving of practically all the common fruits and vegetables capable of preser- 
vation in bottles, and in the second part of the book the scientific basis of 
preserving. If her directions are followed there can be no doubt that fruit and 
vegetable preserving will be successfully carried out ; but the author has, we fear, 
not acquired the faculty of writing in language to be " understanded of the 
people." We tried the book on (i) a well-read mistress of a household, who 
protested difficulty in following essential details, and on (2) an intelligent maid, 
who said she could make little of it, and this is a pity, for so good a book loses 
most of its value if those for whom it is intended fail in their understanding 
of it. 
" The Book of the School Garden." By C. F. Lawrance, 8vo. xii -f- 
231 pp. (Evans Bros., London, n.d. [1918].) 35. 6d. net. 
This is one of the best of the books of its class which we have come across. 
It deals with gardening in the school garden and in the allotment. While there 
are probably no absolutely new things in it, yet the writer has often broken away 
from the stereotyped method of dealing with his subject and given us a some- 
what fresh statement of ideas, and this is just what is so often wanting in such 
books. Clear, concise, and reasoned directions for work to be done, amply 
illustrated in many cases by original figures and with an unusual and very useful 
chapter on home-made appliances, make a book we can cordially recommend. 
A few misprints may be easily corrected in the next edition, which we anticipate 
will soon be called for, 
