American Geographical Society

Plant Geography of SwitzerlandKleine Pflanzengeographie der Schweiz by Ernst FurrerReview by: Mark JeffersonGeographical Review, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Jul., 1926), pp. 506-507Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/208719 .

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

gional sections, with the result that well over one quarter of the book is given to geomorphology. This is a heavy proportion, especially as there is small attempt to help the reader to visualize the landscapes in any of their characteristic details, the space being used rather to state various theories of origin. Nevertheless, the author has provided a very useful digest of physiographic literature, with many references, and in places has not hesitated to give her own interpretations.

Of the general chapters that upon climate appeals to the reviewer as a particularly good statement; it would, however, be improved by some account of the character- istic weather sequences. Flora and fauna are discussed only in relation to their probable origins, and natural vegetation receives but scant mention in the regional sections as an element in the landscape. The leading features of British agriculture and fisheries are presented satisfactorily on the whole. Throughout the book, indus- try and trade are handled in an interesting manner. Economic facts are well selected and given in their proper historical setting. The location of industries is nearly always discussed with due mention of geographical controls and without undue strain- ing of these. In regard to statistics as well as to movements Dr. Moscheles does not confine herself to pre-war conditions, and the book thereby gains in utility. One could wish that the references to sources were as numerous in this part as they are when related to physiography.

Since so much has been achieved in so few pages, it is scarcely reasonable to point out omissions. But compression inevitably leads to eliminations that in places detract from the picture. For instance, the view of the dry thinly-peopled chalk downs serving only as sheep walks (p. 80) is incomplete; for great tracts of these uplands are covered with heavy residual clays that form either arable land or wood- land. We are informed by implication that whiskey replaces beer in Scotland (p. 24) because barley does not thrive there. The fact is that Scottish barley, which is excellent, is largely used in making malt for whiskey. Or again, the use in several places of a name such as the "Waverley Route" (one of the railways leading from England through southern Scotland) may be misleading to foreign readers who may be led to accept as of ancient origin a name that arises only from associations with the home of Sir Walter Scott. In a reference (p. 76) to the older universities of Eng- land (Oxford and Cambridge) the author appears to have been misled by a failure to realize the meaning of the nomenclature in the statistics used.

Clearly Dr. Moscheles has not merely compiled information and in general pre- sented it well but has also thought about it and has often drawn her own conclusions. She rightly ends her book with an indication that the human geography of Britain must be considered in relation to the Empire, of which she says: "A people which gains as brothers in arms its enemies of a few years ago-the Boers-has certainly the faculty not only of creating an Empire but also of holding it."

ALAN G. OGILVIE

PLANT GEOGRAPHY OF SWITZERLAND

ERNST FURRER. Kleine Pflanzengeographie der Schweiz. viii and 331 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogrs., index. Von Beer & Co., Zurich, 1923. 8 x 52 inches.

A quarter of the surface of Switzerland is in forest. Flury's dictum that 37 per cent is necessary to satisfy a country's needs leaves it needing to import lumber, but surely the scale of consumption matters. Three quarters of the forests are protec- tive, guarding against avalanches and erosion. The law forbids diminishing this protection. Actually the surface in forest is increasing.

Swiss experience is said to have demonstrated that clean cutting of forest and replanting with a solid growth of pine, for instance, has been a mistake. For 50 or 6o years the trees thrive, but after that they do not grow well and are exceedingly liable to red rot (Rotfaule). Often the country people are still devoted to this type

gional sections, with the result that well over one quarter of the book is given to geomorphology. This is a heavy proportion, especially as there is small attempt to help the reader to visualize the landscapes in any of their characteristic details, the space being used rather to state various theories of origin. Nevertheless, the author has provided a very useful digest of physiographic literature, with many references, and in places has not hesitated to give her own interpretations.

Of the general chapters that upon climate appeals to the reviewer as a particularly good statement; it would, however, be improved by some account of the character- istic weather sequences. Flora and fauna are discussed only in relation to their probable origins, and natural vegetation receives but scant mention in the regional sections as an element in the landscape. The leading features of British agriculture and fisheries are presented satisfactorily on the whole. Throughout the book, indus- try and trade are handled in an interesting manner. Economic facts are well selected and given in their proper historical setting. The location of industries is nearly always discussed with due mention of geographical controls and without undue strain- ing of these. In regard to statistics as well as to movements Dr. Moscheles does not confine herself to pre-war conditions, and the book thereby gains in utility. One could wish that the references to sources were as numerous in this part as they are when related to physiography.

Since so much has been achieved in so few pages, it is scarcely reasonable to point out omissions. But compression inevitably leads to eliminations that in places detract from the picture. For instance, the view of the dry thinly-peopled chalk downs serving only as sheep walks (p. 80) is incomplete; for great tracts of these uplands are covered with heavy residual clays that form either arable land or wood- land. We are informed by implication that whiskey replaces beer in Scotland (p. 24) because barley does not thrive there. The fact is that Scottish barley, which is excellent, is largely used in making malt for whiskey. Or again, the use in several places of a name such as the "Waverley Route" (one of the railways leading from England through southern Scotland) may be misleading to foreign readers who may be led to accept as of ancient origin a name that arises only from associations with the home of Sir Walter Scott. In a reference (p. 76) to the older universities of Eng- land (Oxford and Cambridge) the author appears to have been misled by a failure to realize the meaning of the nomenclature in the statistics used.

Clearly Dr. Moscheles has not merely compiled information and in general pre- sented it well but has also thought about it and has often drawn her own conclusions. She rightly ends her book with an indication that the human geography of Britain must be considered in relation to the Empire, of which she says: "A people which gains as brothers in arms its enemies of a few years ago-the Boers-has certainly the faculty not only of creating an Empire but also of holding it."

ALAN G. OGILVIE

PLANT GEOGRAPHY OF SWITZERLAND

ERNST FURRER. Kleine Pflanzengeographie der Schweiz. viii and 331 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliogrs., index. Von Beer & Co., Zurich, 1923. 8 x 52 inches.

A quarter of the surface of Switzerland is in forest. Flury's dictum that 37 per cent is necessary to satisfy a country's needs leaves it needing to import lumber, but surely the scale of consumption matters. Three quarters of the forests are protec- tive, guarding against avalanches and erosion. The law forbids diminishing this protection. Actually the surface in forest is increasing.

Swiss experience is said to have demonstrated that clean cutting of forest and replanting with a solid growth of pine, for instance, has been a mistake. For 50 or 6o years the trees thrive, but after that they do not grow well and are exceedingly liable to red rot (Rotfaule). Often the country people are still devoted to this type

506 506

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

of lumbering. The experts prefer a forest of mixed types and ages, from which indi- vidual trees are cut without opening clearings for wind and frost to enter, the young trees replacing the old as fast as they are removed. Of the expense of getting out trees in that way nothing is said.

Seventy per cent of the trees of the Swiss forests are conifers, growing high up mainly and on the rougher ground. On the lower, smoother, and better ground grow the remaining 30 per cent of hardwoods. Twenty-five per cent of them are beech, a tree which demands the soft, moist, nourishing soils, which it is inclined to monop- olize. The most prevalent Swiss forest group, the common spruce, occupying 40 per cent of the wooded surface, yields the best lumber, prized for the evenness of the annual rings and the fineness of the grain. It occurs on rough, high ground above the beeches, where the moisture content is moderate, in the highest parts of the Jura, and on the high Alps at elevations between Iooo and 2000 meters.

Besides the forest associations some thickets are listed, some moors, and eleven sorts of meadows.

While a fourth of Switzerland is still covered by forest, it would be two-thirds wooded if it were not for man. Thanks to much moisture the country is everywhere green. Eighty-five per cent of the surface has over 850 millimeters of rain a year. Man has taken much good land away from the forest to till, but since the middle of the last century he has been turning tilled land back into grass. Since the railroads and steamships made transportation general it has been easier for Switzerland to import grain than to raise it. The labor needed to produce milk is more comfort- able and allows grain to be bought with advantage to all concerned. People get along better here than in "the good old days" when the grain was produced at home. This is the usual case, though it is true the country is less "self-sufficient," whatever that may signify. The cattle of the country get their food mainly from the hay- fields which up to a height of oo1000 meters yield two crops. Occasionally a second crop may be cut up to i6oo meters. The Alps proper-the mountain pastures- contribute not more than a seventeenth of the cattle food, and much harm is done by overgrazing them. One wonders if they pay for the labor attendant on their use.

There is a considerable variety of other matter concerned with plants in this valuable little book, the aesthetic element not being at all neglected. The half- tones of plants and landscapes are excellent. The author has the courage to call them "pictures "-Picture I, Picture 25. There are no "figures" in the book; and the frontispiece, Plate I, contains Pictures 26, 41, and 42-a commendable innovation.

This is just the book to pack with the Baedeker when next you go to Switzerland. MARK JEFFERSON

PIONEER HISTORY OF GUIANA AND SOME WEST-INDIAN ISLANDS

J. A. WILLIAMSON. English Colonies in Guiana and on the Amazon, 1604-1668. I9I pp.; map, index. Clarendon Press, Oxford, I923. 9 x 6 inches.

V. T. HARLOW, edit. Colonising Expeditions to the West Indies and Guiana, 1623- 1667. xcv and 262 pp.; maps, ills., bibliogr., index. Hakluyt Soc. Publs., Series 2, Vol. 56, London, 1925. 9 x 6 inches.

The former of these two books is a valuable contribution to the early history of pioneer Englishmen in that part of Guiana where attempts were made to trade and set up depots when there were no real settlements. We may object to the title "English Colonies," for these attempts were not national or in any sense real col- onies. They were trials and experiments by Englishmen without authority from the Government and not strictly national. This is conspicuous in all the earlier pioneer work in the West Indies-the work was attempted by and for the individuals concerned. There were no colonies of any nation in Guiana before Surinam was

of lumbering. The experts prefer a forest of mixed types and ages, from which indi- vidual trees are cut without opening clearings for wind and frost to enter, the young trees replacing the old as fast as they are removed. Of the expense of getting out trees in that way nothing is said.

Seventy per cent of the trees of the Swiss forests are conifers, growing high up mainly and on the rougher ground. On the lower, smoother, and better ground grow the remaining 30 per cent of hardwoods. Twenty-five per cent of them are beech, a tree which demands the soft, moist, nourishing soils, which it is inclined to monop- olize. The most prevalent Swiss forest group, the common spruce, occupying 40 per cent of the wooded surface, yields the best lumber, prized for the evenness of the annual rings and the fineness of the grain. It occurs on rough, high ground above the beeches, where the moisture content is moderate, in the highest parts of the Jura, and on the high Alps at elevations between Iooo and 2000 meters.

Besides the forest associations some thickets are listed, some moors, and eleven sorts of meadows.

While a fourth of Switzerland is still covered by forest, it would be two-thirds wooded if it were not for man. Thanks to much moisture the country is everywhere green. Eighty-five per cent of the surface has over 850 millimeters of rain a year. Man has taken much good land away from the forest to till, but since the middle of the last century he has been turning tilled land back into grass. Since the railroads and steamships made transportation general it has been easier for Switzerland to import grain than to raise it. The labor needed to produce milk is more comfort- able and allows grain to be bought with advantage to all concerned. People get along better here than in "the good old days" when the grain was produced at home. This is the usual case, though it is true the country is less "self-sufficient," whatever that may signify. The cattle of the country get their food mainly from the hay- fields which up to a height of oo1000 meters yield two crops. Occasionally a second crop may be cut up to i6oo meters. The Alps proper-the mountain pastures- contribute not more than a seventeenth of the cattle food, and much harm is done by overgrazing them. One wonders if they pay for the labor attendant on their use.

There is a considerable variety of other matter concerned with plants in this valuable little book, the aesthetic element not being at all neglected. The half- tones of plants and landscapes are excellent. The author has the courage to call them "pictures "-Picture I, Picture 25. There are no "figures" in the book; and the frontispiece, Plate I, contains Pictures 26, 41, and 42-a commendable innovation.

This is just the book to pack with the Baedeker when next you go to Switzerland. MARK JEFFERSON

PIONEER HISTORY OF GUIANA AND SOME WEST-INDIAN ISLANDS

J. A. WILLIAMSON. English Colonies in Guiana and on the Amazon, 1604-1668. I9I pp.; map, index. Clarendon Press, Oxford, I923. 9 x 6 inches.

V. T. HARLOW, edit. Colonising Expeditions to the West Indies and Guiana, 1623- 1667. xcv and 262 pp.; maps, ills., bibliogr., index. Hakluyt Soc. Publs., Series 2, Vol. 56, London, 1925. 9 x 6 inches.

The former of these two books is a valuable contribution to the early history of pioneer Englishmen in that part of Guiana where attempts were made to trade and set up depots when there were no real settlements. We may object to the title "English Colonies," for these attempts were not national or in any sense real col- onies. They were trials and experiments by Englishmen without authority from the Government and not strictly national. This is conspicuous in all the earlier pioneer work in the West Indies-the work was attempted by and for the individuals concerned. There were no colonies of any nation in Guiana before Surinam was

507 507

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.61 on Fri, 9 May 2014 15:06:17 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions