Vol. IX. No. 224. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



379 



A IIAXDBOOK OF TROPICAL (UKDEXINO 

 ANDPLAXTIXO. By H. F. Macinilkn, F.L.S., F.IJ.H.S. 

 H. W. Cave d- Co., Amen Corner, Colombo, Ceylon. lOs. Qd. 



This book, which deals especially with the conditions 

 surrounding gardening in Ceylon, is the work of the Curator 

 of the Koyal Botanic f Jardens at Feradeniya, and this fact 

 should be sufficient to arouse expectations as to its usefulness 

 which, it may be said at once, are justified on its perusal. 

 The matter with which it deals is contained iu four sections. 

 The first of these includes nine chapters, of which six are con- 

 cerned with the life-history of garden plants, especially in 

 relation to their surroundings and propagation: the last three 

 chapters in the section deal more particularly with the cultiva- 

 tion of such plants for special purposes, and with the 

 implements that are employed in this. The five chapters of 

 the second section give an account of tropical and sub-tropical 

 fruits and vegetables as well as spices of the tropics, 

 condiments and seasoning herbs. Cha[)ters XV to X.\I form 

 the substance of Section III, which gives an account of plants 

 of special kinds, and for particular situations, whether for 

 use or for ornament. The remaining chapt'jrs, of which there 

 are eleven, constitute Section IV. The first two of these deal 

 with the standard and minor products of Ceylon; miscellan- 

 eous garden plants, perfume-yielding plants and others which 

 are useful such as ]iasture, grazing and fodder plants, receive 

 attention in the next three chapters. These are followed by 

 a similar number of chapters, which treat of the enemies and 

 friends of the garden and estate, the former including no.xious 

 weeds, insecfand other animal pest.s, and fungus diseases. 

 Finall}', three chapters are devoted to the transport, packing 

 and storing of planting material; various statistics for practi- 

 cal work; recipes for .jams, jellies, etc.; and calendars of gar- 

 den work for various parts of Ceylon. 



In a more detailed way, it may be said that Chapters I to 

 III, dealing with climate, soils, plant life and manures, present 

 the necessary facts in a concise and handy form. Chapter IV 

 contains particularly useful information regarding green 

 manures; while Chapter VI, which is more detailed in the 

 information it gives, is a well-illustrated account of the different 

 modes of the propagation of plants. The cultural operations 

 employed in gardens are necessarily treated without too great 

 detail, in Chapter A'll; while the two succeeding ones contain 

 information about general gardening work that is particularly 

 useful to the practical gardener. 



In Chapters X to XXVI, an account is presented of 

 individual kinds of plants in their relation to their particular 

 purposes. The mode of treatment is thorough, especially in 

 regard to the number of species concerning which facts are 

 given, and there is much that is of interest from a purely 

 botanical standpoint. Unfortunately, however, the presenta- 

 tion of the matter is somewhat marred through the existence 

 of several typographical errors in the names of plants. Chapter 

 XXVII, dealing with the enemies and friends of the garden, 

 is particularly valuable because of the good account of 

 methods for the destruction of weeds which it contains. In 

 that dealing with the insect pests, more particularly (Chapter 



XXVIII), a noticeable feature is that it contains a good list 

 of insecticides. A final matter of more special comment is 

 that the calendars of work in the garden, in Chapter XXXII, 

 have been made to apply thoroughly to the conditions in 

 different parts of Ceylon, and should be particularly useful 

 in their definite connexions. 



The work, which contains aljout 530 pages and more 

 than 150 illustrations, is [jroduced in an attractive and useful 

 manner, and the illustrations are generally good, throughout. 

 It is rather large in size, however, to be classed as a handbook, 

 and it seems that the practical gardener, in his everyday 

 work would find it of much use if he could be provided with 

 a smaller, abridged edition containing the matter in Section I, 

 and Chapters XXVII to XXX and XXXII. Copies of this 

 would be used directly for his outside work, while a copy of 

 the original edition would be kept on the shelf, for reference. 



THE SCIENCE AXDPRACTICE OFMAXURIXG. 

 By W. Dyke, F.R.H.S. The Lockwood Press, 1 Mitre Court, 

 Fleet Street, Lontlon. Is. 



A copy of a handy booklet, with the above title, has 

 been received recently. This contains a large amount of use- 

 ful information in regard to manures, presented in a con- 

 densed form, and in a manner easy for reference. In twelve 

 short chapters, particulars are given concerning, firstly, general 

 matters relating to manures, plants, crops and soils; facts for 

 the guidance of those who are growing plants, as well as 

 descriptions of the manures that are commonly in use; the use 

 of manures in connexion with the raising of plants of special 

 kinds: and finally, several useful hints in relation to the 

 employment of manures. 



It is of interest to note that the pamphlet does not con- 

 tain a mere description of manures, with instructions for 

 their application, as might have been expected. After giving 

 interesting facts concerning the origin and history of them, it 

 deals with the needs of plants, more especially in regard to 

 the supply of these from the soil, and treats of the ways in 

 which they are affected, either beneficially or adversely, 

 through manuring The matters considered are illustrated 

 by very simple examples, which serve their purpose, as far as 

 is required. 



Proceeding further with the manner of presentation of 

 the facts with which the pamphlet has been designed to deal, 

 it is noticeable that the scope of the information given is 

 a reasonable one: there is no attempt to go deeply into 

 subjects which are of comparative unimportance, in the 

 special connexion; the effDrt is rather to give elementary 

 knowledge that will be of use to all who take part in the 

 employment of manures. To show that the sulyect is not 

 approached from a narrow standpoint, it may be stated that 

 a chapter is given which deals with the influence of soils on 

 manuring — a subject which is sometimes neglected by agri- 

 culturists, when the best and most suitable methods of 

 manuring are under consideration. 



The six chapters that deal in a more definite way with 

 manures and their particular mode of application give infor- 

 mation that is naturally of more sijecial use in temperate 

 countries than in the tropics. They contain facts, neverthe- 

 less, that should be known to the grower of plants, in every 

 part of the world. 



Among other matters, the last chapter contains a series 

 of warnings to those by whom manures are commonly 

 employed. These form a particularly useful part of an inter- 

 esting booklet, which might well be in the possession of all 

 those who require the presentation of the commoner facts con- 

 corning manures, in a compact form. 



