122 THE PLANT WORLD 



Book Reviews, 



Nature Study and IvIFK. By Clifton F. Hodge. Boston, Ginn & Co., 

 1902. $1.50. 



Of nature study books there seems almost no end, yet of really good 

 books there are very few and in the superlative class, to which the present 

 book belongs, it stands almost alone. Professor Hodge is himself a 

 naturalist and a trained observer, and as a result he speaks with author- 

 ity on the numerous topics treated. This book is not arranged to especi- 

 ally suit the school year, for as the author well says, " nature's changes 

 were not arranged according to our school courses, and the predominant im- 

 portance of subject-matter precludes such cramped and formal treatment. ' ' 

 It is prepared to interest and instruct the young mind all the year round, 

 taking up, for instance, such subjects as children's animals and pets, 

 insect study, insects of the household and garden, elementary botany, 

 garden fruits, propagation of plants, insectivorous animals, common birds, 

 domestication of our wild birds, elementary forestry, flowerless plants, etc. 

 As stated in the introduction, which is written by Dr. G. Stanley Hall, 

 instead of elaborate methods applied to a few species, it presents the es- 

 sential and salient points about many, and this avoids the current of over- 

 elaborate and over-methodic treatment, prolonged until interest turns to 

 ennui, and another important feature is the practical turn given to much 

 of the information. The book is beautifully printed and well illus- 

 trated, and we confidently recommend it as the best of its kind that has 

 appeared. F. h. k. 



The New Onion Culture. By T. Greiner. Rewritten. Illustrated, 

 5x7 ins., about 150 pp., cloth. Orange Judd Co., N. Y. 50c. 



A complete guide in growing onions with the greatest profit, explain- 

 ing the whys and wherefores . Minute directions are given of how the plants 

 are grown ; the cold frame ; seed bed ; planting ; fire hotbed, hotbeds 

 heated by steam ; cheap greenhouse for market gardeners ; greenhouse 

 heated by hot water ; quantity of seed required ; time of sowing ; varieties ; 

 what soil to select ; how to manure and prepare it ; onions on muck soil ; 

 clean soil essential ; how the plants are set in the ground ; tillage as 

 moisture preserver and weed killer ; tools of tillage ; when and how to 

 harvest the crop ; danger in delay ; signs of maturity ; curing the crop ; 

 curing sheds ; weight of crop ; wintering onions ; advantages and profits 

 of the new way ; estimation of cost and returns. Prizetaker and Gibral- 

 tar onions, when well grown by this method, cannot be distinguished 

 from imported onions, and there is no reason why American farmers 

 should not raise all that our markets require. x. 



