292 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



the .1,'rowing demand for itroper farm drainage, iiointing out the benefits of tile 

 drains in this connection. 



Considerable space is occupied with a discussion of the relative merits of 

 clay and cement tile, with a review of the present controversy on this question. 

 Evidence is presented to show that cement is generally superior to clay for tile 

 and pipe. 



A short chapter devoted to the chemical action of cement in the soil touches 

 briefly on the effect of alkali on cement. The author considers that disintegra- 

 tion may be prevented by making the concrete impervious to moisture, which is 

 possible if care is taken in selecting and mixing the materials. 



The book includes the results of a number of strength tests of cement pipe in 

 this country and in Germany, while there are 2 chapters on methods and cost 

 of manufacture, describing plants and their equipment and giving cost data in 

 different localities. The concluding chapter describes tile and pipe-making 

 machinery on the market. 



Concrete silos, C. W. Gaylord and P. H. Wilson (Concrete Rev., 3 (1909), 

 No. 11-12, PI). 67. fig ft. 37). — This pamphlet states the requirements for silos, 

 sets forth the advantages of the use of concrete in their construction, and 

 describes the various methods of employing it. It contains illustrations and 

 descriptions of concrete silos in use. and gives directions for building solid, 

 hollow-wall and concrete-block silos. The making of forms and methods of 

 reenforcing and mixing and placing the concrete are described in detail, with 

 plans and tables of data necessary. 



RURAL ECONOMICS. 



Decline of farming in southern-central New York, R. S. Tare (Bui. Amer. 

 Geogr. .Soc, -'// (UiOit), \o. .'>, iiji. 270-27 f<). — Statistical data on rural depopula- 

 tion and the increase of tenant and share farming in the counties of P.roome, 

 Tioga, Chemung, Schuyler, Yates, Tompkins, and Cortland are presented and 

 discussed. The causes of these economic phenomena are believed to be the com- 

 petition of the West, shiftlessness in individual farmers, soil deterioration, bad 

 roads, and social isolation. 



W^hile the outlook for farming is not regarded as very encouraging in this 

 section of the State, the author believes that the industry could be improved, 

 and to this end suggests as remedies the better education of the farmer, the 

 planting of poor land to forests, road improvement, better marketing facilities, 

 and extensive farming. The State statistics show about 20,000 vacancies on 

 farms and these places are being taken by foreigners. 



The agricultural labor problem in South Russia, S. Sagorsky (Die 

 Arbeiterfragc in dcr Siidnissischeii Landicirtschaft. Munich, 1908, pp. 208, 

 charts 5). — This is a history of agricultural development in South Russia from 

 the date of the emancipation of the serfs on February 19, 1861, to the present 

 time, with particular reference to the effects of emancipation on the economic 

 welfare of farm laborers and the peasant class. In general, under the system 

 of land holding and other agrarian features which prevail throughout Russia, 

 it is shown that the economic, social, and general welfare of the agricultural 

 laboring classes is in a very deplorable condition in South Russia, which is 

 taken as a typical agricultural section of the empire. 



Rural conditions in the United States (Jour. Bd. Agr. [London], 16 (1909), 

 No. 2, pp. 132-135). — A brief discussion of the report of the Country Life Com- 

 mis.siou (E. S. R., 20, p. 1089). 



