1917] The Ottawa Naturalist. 95 



problems of rural development in this country during the past three 

 years, following twenty-five years experience in farming, land survey- 

 ing and town planning in other countries. 



The report deals comprehensively with the social conditions and 

 tendencies in rural areas and the prevailing systems of land settlement 

 and development. It indicates the rural problems requiring solution 

 in order to secure the proper development and economic use of land 

 for purpose of efficiency, health, convenience, and amenity. The great 

 injury which land development in Canada suffers, from speculation, 

 neglect of public health, and want of expert business administration of 

 land settlement, is considered. Incidentally, the problem of returned 

 soldiers is deal with, and the connection between land development 

 and such questions as taxation, unemployment, and high cost of 

 living is clearly shown. 



Having regard to the need for more attention being given to 

 production in Canada; to the extent to which production is impaired 

 by speculation in land, by neglect of public health, and by haphazard 

 systems of development; to the importance of increasing the supply 

 of human skill and energy and of capital derived from production 

 instead of by borrowing; the problems dealt with in this report are of 

 vital and current interest to the people of this country. 



There are five appendices by competent authorities, and the con- 

 cluding chapter gives an outline of proposals and makes general 

 recommendations to cover the conditions as presented. 



NOTES. 



A Club in Boston has for its object the study of mushrooms, for 

 their scientific interest, for their beauty and for their attractive quali- 

 ties as food. Through the summer and autumn the club has an 

 exhibition of mushrooms once a week at which a number of members 

 come together to compare and identify their fresh collections. Fifty to 

 a hundred kinds are sometimes exhibited. The Club has a large 

 collection of dried mushrooms which are sometimes exhibited in the 

 winter and it has a library of mushroom handbooks and journals. 

 Poisonous species are shown and much pains taken to make them 

 known so that they can be avoided. Membership in the Club is not 

 confined to residents near Boston, and correspondence is carried on 

 with those living at a distance. Persons interested in mushrooms can 

 obtain further information from the Secretary, Miss Jennie F. Conant, 

 26 Prospect St., Melrose, Mass. 



