Vol. IX. Xo. 209. 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



139 



THE HAT FROBLEM. By W. It. JJoflier. John 

 Bale, Sons and Dnnielson, Limited, London. 



The object of thw book is sutMciently .stated in the inti'o- 

 diiction: it is to present the case against the rat so complete- 

 ly as to ensure the passing of a bill through Parliament, on 

 the lines of the Danish Rat Law, which shall ensure co-operat- 

 ive etibrt toward the destruction of this pest. After this, 

 the objections to the rat are presented in the first three chap- 

 ters, which deal respectively with the history of the rat, the 

 economic losses caused by it, and the part played by it 

 in the dissemination of disease. Chapter IV deals with the 

 means for the e.xterniination of rats, and a useful summary of 

 the conclusions reached is given in Chapter V. Finally, 

 Chapters VI and VII present an account of various rat laws, 

 together with a draft of the one proposed for adoption in 

 England, and a bibliography of the subject. 



Employing the subject matter of the book, it appears 

 that the position in England, as regards the brown rat, may 

 be summed up in the following way. This animal seems to 

 have reached that country from India, in the year 1732, since 

 when it has exterminated the black rat and become a national 

 pest. Five factors seem to have contributed to the latter 

 result : its physical and mental faculties: its great fecundity; 

 the provision of more food and shelter through the increase 

 ot the human population; the killing of its natural enemies; 

 and the lack of co-operation for the purpose of destroying it. 

 The increase in numbers has become a serious matter, 

 on account of the damage that is constantly effected 

 by it, and because of its acting as a carrier of diseases 

 such as trichinosis and bubonic plague, and the problem 

 of its destruction has become of national importance. As 

 there is no ideal means of effecting this de.struction, any 

 method for killing rats is worthy of adoption as long as there 

 is general co-operation in the matter, and the State should 

 arrange for this co-operation by the passing of suitable laws 

 and the provision of fund.s. In the meantime, something may 

 be effected by publis support of rat-killing clubs organized 

 by the Incorporated Society for the Destruction of Vermin. 



Interesting information is given as to the efficacy of 

 such of the bacteriological preparations, for the destruction 

 of rats by injecting them with disease, as have been found 

 worthy of investigation. Of these, that known as Issat- 

 schenko's bacillus has been shown to be fairly effective for 

 a few generations. The virulence of the disease produced by 

 the Danysz virus is obtained artificially, and is said to be 

 unstable; rats become immune to the disease, which has 

 a further objection in that it is not contagious among them. 

 These facts make it of little practical value, and this 

 characteristic is stated to be shared by the culturesof the Bivil- 

 lus Danyi'.i known as the Pasteur viru.s, the Liverpool virus 

 and the Laroclie virus. Ratin, which consists of cultures of 

 Neumann's bacillu.s, is stated to have been very succe.ssful, 

 except in certain isolated areas. Success is also claimed for 

 the preparation called I'aticide, which produces a disease 

 that is transmitted in a more virulent form to those rats 

 ■which have attacked and eaten the ones that were first to 



suffer from its effects. There are, however, no official feeding 

 tests which show that this culture is harmless to other 

 animals. 



To return to the book itself, it is evident that it has 

 been written with a view to gaining the attention of the 

 ordinary reader, and it is to be feared that too great an effort 

 has been made to this end, with the result that it is loaded 

 with a deal of matter that is of very little use in connexion 

 with the subject. This has caused the inclusion of much, both 

 as regards text and illustrations, that may have been omitted 

 with advantage. To this are added the draw'backs that the 

 figures are not numbered and that there is no index. Neverthe- 

 less, as is shown above, it contains much that should be of use 

 to all who are interested in the problem with which it deals. 



IXCUBATORSi AXD THEIR MANAGEMEXT, by 

 •J. H. Sutcliffe. FRUIT CULTURE FOR AMATEUR.<, 

 by S. T. Wright. L. UikoU Gill, London. 



These form two of the volumes of a number of practic- 

 al hand-books that are being brought out by this firm of 

 publishers; they may be obtained at the price of one shilling. 

 The first-mentioned is of the greater interest to those livinc 

 in the West Indies, as the second is devoted to the considera- 

 tion of hardy fruits alone; they will therefore be considered 

 in the order given above. 



lacul'dtors ami Their Jlawu/viurn/ was \\ritten with the 

 idea of presenting the information that the author was 

 desirous of possessing when he first became interested in the 

 subject of incubation, and it fulfils this purpose successfully. 

 The first four chapters are devoted to subjects connected 

 with natural incubation and the development of the chicken 

 in the egg. Chapters V to X treat very thoroughly of 

 incubators, and in reading them, there is evidence of a desire 

 to deal fairly with the different type.< of apparatus; special 

 attention might be drawn to the account of a home-made 

 incubator which is described in Chapter X. The two last 

 chapters deal with the artificial rearing of chickens, and egg 

 testers and egg boxes. The style in which the book is 

 written is simple, and it is completed by a useful index. 



The fact that Fruit Culture for Amateurs is written by 

 the Superintendent of the lioyal Horticultural Gardens, 

 Wisley, gives an indication of its value, and a perusal of the 

 work will show that it fulfils the promise of its authorship. 

 The greater part of it can only be of very general interest, 

 however, to those in the West Indies; matters which more 

 closely concern such readers will be found near the end, 

 where grafting, budding, manuring, storing and preserving 

 fruit, and its packing and marketing are <lealt with. The 

 book is written in a pleasant style and, like the one just 

 reviewed, contains a good index. 



THE WEEKLY TELEGRAFH GARDENING 

 BOOK. Puhlished hy the Proprietors of the Weekly Tele- 

 graph, London. 



Like the two books just reviewed, this is issued at the 

 price of one shilling. It contains a large amount of informa- 

 tion, is profusely illustrated, and is well worth the price 

 asked for it. Although most of the gardening instructions 

 are naturally of small application in the tropics, the work is 

 of value to those interested in gardening in the West Indies, 

 on account of the adequate descriptions of plants, and the 

 information as to the conditions under which they grow best, 

 which it gives. Such persons will find it worth obtaining, if 

 only for the aid to the selection ot plants for different 

 purposes, on pages 191 to 194, and for its useful illustra- 

 tions. 



