ABSTRACTS 



Authors of scientific papers are requested to see that abstracts, preferably 

 prepared and signed by themselves, are forwarded promptly to the editors. 

 The abstracts should conform in length and general style to those appearing 

 in this issue. 



GEOGRAPHY. — Geography of the world's agriculture. V. C. Finch 

 and 0. E. Baker, Office of Farm Management. Pp. 149, includ- 

 ing 206 text figm-es and 2 inserted colored maps. " 1917" [April, 

 1918]. 



This contribution from the Office of Farm Management is an elabora- 

 tion of an article by the same authors in the 1916 Yearbook of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and a sort of forerunner of the Atlas of Ameri- 

 can Agriculture now in preparation by the Office of Farm Manage- 

 ment under the immediate direction of Mr. Baker. 



Maps in black and white, with the acreage and production of all 

 the more important crops of the world indicated by dots, occupy over 

 half the space, and in addition there are many instructive graphs. The 

 maps of the United States and Europe are naturally more detailed 

 than those of other parts of the world, where statistics are not gathered 

 so systematically^ One of the colored maps shows land relief and the 

 other mean annual precipitation for the whole world exclusive of the 

 polar regions ; and by comparing the crop maps with these many more 

 or less striking correlations of crops with altitude and moisture can be 

 made out. Our knowledge of soil conditions is as yet far too fragmen- 

 tary to warrant the preparation of a soil map of the world, but numerous 

 correlations between crops and soils are pointed out in the text. 



It is impracticable to go further into details here, but this atlas, or 

 album, probably brings out the salient features of the world's agricul- 

 ture at the beginning of the great world war better than any other pub- 

 lication, and it will be an indispensable reference book for students of 

 economic geography and all persons interested in the relation of geo- 

 graphic conditions to the distribution of crops and live stock through- 

 out the world. 



R. M. Harper. 



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