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Alpheus S. A Half Century of Evolution, with 

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 J. T., M. D. How Education fails. Pp. 81.— 

 Shufeldt, R. W., M. D. On the Alternation of 

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 — Starr, Frederick. Notched Bones from Mexico. 

 A Shell Inscription from Tula, Mexico. Pp. 10. — 

 Woolman, Lewis. Report on Artesian Wells in 

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Smithsonian Institution. United States Na- 

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 New Parasitic Insects of the Subfamily Encys- 

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Socialist, The, Almanac and Treasury of Facts. 

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Thompson, Ernest Seton. Wild Animals I 

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ffvaijrajetits of M>timtt. 



Tree Planting in the Arid Regions. — In 



planting the arid and subarid regions of the 

 country, where no trees are growing natu- 

 rally, Mr. B. E. Fernow says, in a review of 

 the work of the Department of Forestry, 

 different methods of cultivation from those 

 given in the humid parts are necessary, and 

 the plant material has to be selected with a 

 view to a rigorous climate characterized by 

 extreme ranges of temperature varying from 

 —40° to + 120° F, The requirements of the 

 plants for moisture must be of the slightest, 

 and they must be capable of responding to 

 the demands of evaporation. At first, what- 

 ever trees will grow successfully from the 

 start under such untoward conditions would 

 have to be chosen, no matter what their 

 qualities otherwise might be. The first set- 

 tlers have ascertained by trials some of the 

 species that will succeed under such condi- 

 tions, but unfortunately most of them are 

 of but small economic value, and some of 

 them are only short-lived under the conditions 

 in which they have to grow. A few years 



ago Mr. Fernow came to the conclusion that 

 the conifers, especially the pines, would fur- 

 nish more useful and otherwise serviceable 

 material for the arid regions. Besides their 

 superior economical value, they require less 

 moisture than most of the deciduous trees 

 that have been planted, and they would, if 

 once established, persist more readily through 

 seasons of drought and be longer lived. A 

 small trial plantation on the sand hills of 

 Nebraska lent countenance to this theory. It 

 being vastly more difficult to establish the 

 young plants in the first place than in the 

 case of deciduous trees, much attention was 

 given to the provision for protection of the 

 seedlings from sun and winds ; and they 

 were planted in mixture with "nurse trees'' 

 that would furnish not too much and yet 

 enough shade. " It can not be said that the 

 success in using these species has so far been 

 very encouraging ; nevertheless, the failure 

 may be charged rather to our lack of knowl- 

 edge and to causes that can be overcome 

 than to any inherent incapacity in the spe- 



