THE APRIL issue of Forestry Abstracts, prepared by the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau at Oxford, contains an article appraising the present position of the literature of forestry.
Since the second world war the total mass of literature or "coverage" has grown formidably' in both volume and variety of origin.
|
|
Year |
Periodicals |
Serial Sets(including Annual Reports) |
TOTAL |
|
January |
1947 |
379 |
470 |
849 |
|
March |
1949 |
392 |
513 |
905 |
|
January |
1950 |
416 |
544 |
960 |
|
,, |
1951 |
445 |
602 |
1 047 |
|
March |
1952 |
475 |
665 |
1 130 |
|
,, |
1953 |
520 |
691 |
1 211 |
|
,, |
1954 |
547 |
720 |
1 267 |
|
January |
1955 |
555 |
755 |
1 310 |
SUCH PERIODICALS, it may be noted, currently include 23 weeklies, 15 semi-monthlies and 181 monthlies, the whole comprising an annual intake of over 5,100 issues. The serials include some 230 reports, mostly annual, from departments, research and teaching centers, and other professional bodies.
A superficial analysis of all this literature by origin is given below
|
Region |
No. |
Percent |
|
Commonwealth |
490 |
37 |
|
Europe, including U.S.S.R. |
316 |
24 |
|
Asia and Pacific (non-Commonwealth) |
51 |
4 |
|
Africa (non-Commonwealth) |
10 |
|
|
United States |
365 |
28 |
|
Central and South America |
47 |
4 |
|
International |
31 |
3 |
|
TOTAL |
1 310 |
100 |
POSTWAR DEVELOPMENT or revival of organized forestry all over the world, much assisted by such United Nations agencies as the Food and Agriculture Organization, has resulted in the appearance or resuscitation of numerous publications carrying forestry material, while an increasing number are also becoming available from the countries of Eastern Europe. Abstracting is therefore faced with a growing diversity of tongues; since 1951, Greek, Icelandic, Javanese, Latvian, Macedonian, Persian and Siamese have all had to be arranged for, and a total of over 30 languages is now regularly dealt with.
|
Language
|
1946 |
1950 |
1954 |
||
|
No. |
Percent |
Percent |
No. |
Percent |
|
|
English |
2 500 |
73.5 |
70.0 |
2 780 |
61.2 |
|
French |
305 |
9.0 |
7.5 |
370 |
8.3 |
|
German |
195 |
6.0 |
6.6 |
565 |
12.4 |
|
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian |
175 |
5.0 |
6.3 |
280 |
6.0 |
|
Scandinavian and Dutch |
110 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
245 |
5.3 |
|
Russian and other Slav |
105 |
3.2 |
4.5 |
205 |
4.5 |
|
Oriental and other |
5 |
0.1 |
1.8 |
105 |
2.3 |
|
TOTAL: |
3 395 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
4 550 |
100.0 |
Some idea of the share of different countries in the total output of forestry literature can be gained from an analysis by language of the periodicals regularly scrutinized by the Bureau. The above figures are based on issues of periodicals during the years given.
|
RECENT FAO PUBLICATIONS The State of Food and Agriculture 1955 (Review of a Decade and Outlook) September 1955 - S2.50 or 12s. 6d. 236 pages, graphs and tables (English, French and Spanish). UNLIKE its predecessors, this year's report on the state of food and agriculture does not deal mainly with the current situation and short-term outlook, but instead reviews the progress and experiences of the whole decade. The treatment of this theme is analytical rather than descriptive and an attempt has been made to bring out the underlying causes of the main postwar developments and to make some appraisal of the 'results achieved.' The main issues and problems which lie ahead are discussed in a final chapter. Part II (in the same volume) reviews the production, consumption and trade developments commodity by commodity (including forestry and fisheries) in the last ten years and gives short-term outlooks. Activities of FAO under the Expanded Technical Assistance Program 1954-55 1955 112 pages $1.00 or 5s. (English, French and Spanish). AN illustrated report covering all the fields of work in which FAO is rendering Technical Assistance in Asia, the Near East-Africa, Latin America and Europe. The material is presented so that' related activities in forestry, agriculture, fisheries, and nutrition, are described chapter by chapter, each containing significant background information on the projects. Eucalypts for Planting October 1955, 400 pages. $3.50 or 17s. 6d. THE English edition, with the addition of a complete index of the species mentioned, is now available. One of the most versatile tree groups for the creation of-new forests is the genus Eucalyptus. This monograph by a recognized authority summarizes available material on botanical and silvicultural characteristics, nursery and planting methods, and technological properties and uses. 1955 Forest Seed Directory June 1955, 158 pages $1.00 or 5s. World Forest Resources March 1955,120 pages, graphs and tables. $2.50 or 12s. 6d. (trilingual: English, French and Spanish) THE Conference of FAO, at its Sixth Session in 1951, directed that available information on the forest resources of the world should be collected and published at five-year intervals. The second of these enquiries was undertaken in 1953, and covered over 190 countries and territories. Compared with the first enquiry of 1947/48, this inventory records considerable progress in the scope of the figures reported. A directory of suppliers of seed of woody species for forest production, erosion control, game and wildlife management, shelterbelts and wind breaks, and for animal fodder purposes. |
