202 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
i860 the great mass of forest-covered hills occupying Central India was unknown 
to British officials. The present volume deals with the history of the forests 
over a period of approximately sixty years, or down to 1864, at which date the 
first Inspector-General of Forests in India was appointed, and the forest service 
called into being. The first beginning of forest conservancy was from 1850 
to 1857, and an account of the operations in Burma, the Punjab and Western 
Himalaya, from the reports of Dr. Falconer and Dr. McClelland, are interesting 
reading. Equally interesting is it to trace through the pages of this sumptuous 
volume the gradual, though slow, rise and progress of forestry in India, which is 
principally due to the indefatigable work of such men as Cleghorn, Brandis, 
and others. Regarding the native woods by far the most valuable work is the 
" Manual of Indian Timbers," by Gamble, in which, as far as possible, the author 
gives a detailed account of the various woods, with special reference to such 
as were of interest from an economic point of view. Teak is probably the most 
widely known and appreciated of Indian timbers, of which considerable quantities 
are regularly sent to the markets of this country. Chapter XVII. contains a 
detailed account of the Indian Mutiny and its erf ects on the forests of Central 
and Upper India, during which period some of these suffered so severely as to 
practically disappear. Within a few years damage was done that will take half 
a century to repair. Dr. Cleghorn's work in Madras during 1858 to 1864 is well 
summed up in a public resolution by the Government of India in 1865, in which it 
justly designated Cleghorn as the "Founder of Forest Conservancy in India." 
The progress of forestry in India, and the steps by which that progress has been 
achieved, are all clearly and consecutively outlined in the four parts into which 
the first volume of this thoroughly exhaustive work is subdivided, and forms 
so readable and interesting an account of the great work that has been so success- 
fully accomplished that the reader will await with longing interest the publication 
of the second volume. 
"A Short Manual of Forest Management." By H. Jackson. 8vo. 69 pp. 
(Cambridge University Press, 1921.) 75. net. 
The author in his preface states that the object of this manual is to present 
a brief and simplified text-book on forest management, based on a purely 
practical foundation. Brief it certainly is, consisting of but sixty-nine pages, 
but with the statement that the work is simple or based on a purely practical 
foundation we cannot agree, and we feel certain that not one forester in fifty will 
either understand or care to fathom the various formulae and annexed tables, 
particularly those with reference to mensuration and increment. Neither is it 
correct to say that the standard works on this subject present for student and 
public a formidable appearance, or contain an exposition of high theory which 
is not capable of practical application to the forest conditions of our own country. 
The public appreciation of such works as " The Forester," by Brown and Nisbet, 
now in a third edition, or " Webster's Practical Forestry," now in a sixth edition, 
with several reprints, surely testify to the fact that the contents of such are 
neither formidable nor highly theoretical. Rather the reverse, as rules for the 
management of our home woods and plantations have had the widest circulation 
in this country when drawn up by the practical forester, less so by the Uni- 
versity Professor, whose writings are naturally more of a technical kind, and 
best suited for the student of a School of Forestry. The manual, which is 
nicely got up and printed, contains nine chapters, these being subdivided into 
fifty-seven headings, which include amongst others condensed notes on field 
work, methods of treatment, and British estate forests. So far as it goes, for 
it consists of only two pages, the chapter on British estate forests contains 
sound advice and to the point ; while under " Various Objects of Management " 
we wish that the author had dwelt more fully on the vexed question of game 
in relation to forestry. That ' ' game-preserving is not altogether incompatible 
with economic forestry " requires some qualifying, as our own experience on 
three of the most extensive wooded properties in this country, as well as that 
of 99 per cent, of foresters, has been that forestry and game-preserving, from a 
purely commercial point of view, cannot successfully go hand in hand. Though 
the practical British forester will find little to interest him in this manual, yet 
its contents should prove useful in the School of Forestry, where condensed 
working plans of certain types of forests are in demand. 
" Landscape Gardening." By O. C. Simonds. 8vo. 338 pp. (The Mac- 
millan Co., New York, 1920.) 31s. 6d. net. 
This work on landscape art is well worthy of inclusion in the growing national 
library of technical literature in America. 
