1917] RURAL ECONOMICS. 697 



The wheat question, M. Perchot {Vie Agr. et Riirale, 7 {1911), No. 25, pp. 

 433-440). — This report discusses the stock of wheat on hand, the consumption 

 requirements, the influence of fixing of the price on production, and methods of 

 restricting consumption. 



Observations on the recent agricultural inquiry in California, T. P. Hunt 

 {California Sta. [Pub., 1917], pp. 20). — The autlior discusses the findings of 

 the committee on resources and food supply of the State council of defense. 

 He recommends tliat the council devise means to bring city labor resources in 

 touch with country needs, to organize tractor garages, to urge city capital and 

 people to engage in the production of food, to promote plans of meeting the live- 

 stock situation, to urge conservation of food and elimination of waste through 

 organizations of women, and to assure the producer of high prices. 



The great war: Its lessons and its warnings, J. Collings {London: The 

 Rural World Publishing Co. [1917], pp. US, pis. 2). — The author deals in a gen- 

 eral way with the deficiencies of English agriculture in meeting national 

 demands in time of war. A material reduction of the acreage in grass, more 

 intensive cultivation and division of agricultural lands, reclamation of waste 

 lands, and state aid to bring about reform are lessons emphasized. 



A comparison of the systems of agriculture on the Continent, where intensi- 

 fied farming predominates, with that in England, is carried thi'ough the book. 



The land and the Empire, C. H. Tuknor {London: John Murray, 1917, pp. 

 14-iy flffs- 28).— The author treats of errors In the policy of English agriculture 

 in the past, which permitted a decrease in rural population as well as agricul- 

 tural production. Occupying ownership, more practical education, betterment 

 of labor conditions, and a more efficiently organized agricultural industry are 

 urged as essentials in the solution of the problem. 



The English land system, J. A. R. Maeuiott {London: John Murray, 1914, 

 pp. X+168). — The author traces the development of the English land system 

 from the viewpoint of social and economic history. Its origin in the manorial 

 system, the effect of the Black Death and peasant revolts, the agrarian revolu- 

 tions of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, resulting in large estates and 

 decay of yeomanry, and the causes and outcome of the periods of plenty, as 

 well as depression, of the nineteenth centry agriculture are noted with some 

 detail. 



The concluding chapter deals with the land problem to-day, reviewing such 

 suggested solutions as land nationalization, a land commission to settle on such 

 questions as " fair rent " and " security of tenure," and the increase in small 

 holdings through a system of land purchase involving State assistance. 



Land improvement in the Province of the Rhine, Heimerle {Landw. Jahrb., 

 48 {1915), No. 2, pp. 171-277, pi. 1). — This is a survey of improvements made in 

 Rhenish irrigation and drainage conditions during the past century. Technical, 

 legal, and economic phases are studied, including soil and climatic conditions, 

 drainage and drainage regulations, financial aid, economy of improvement and 

 production increase, and general effect on commerce and population. 



Madras agriculture. — A brief survey {Madras: Dir. Agr. [1916], pp. 87). — 

 The Introduction briefly reviews conditions pertaining to general land economics. 

 Following data of a general nature concerning the variety of crops produced, 

 with the acreage distribution, each crop is considered separately in reference 

 to its locality, manner of cultivation, improvement, and comparative quality. 

 Statistical tables are presented for the principal commercial crops showing 

 the quantity, value, months when available for export, and distribution of 

 foreign trade. 



Monthly crop report {U. 8. Dept. Agr., Mo. Crop Rpt., S {1917), Nos. 6, pp. 

 45-56, figs. 2; 7, pp. 57-68, fig. 1). — These two numbers contain the usual data 



