896 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



Elementary chemistry of agriculture, S. A. Woodhead {London: MacmiUan 

 d Co., Ltd., 1919, pp. Til +188. flffs. 47).— This text deals with elementary prin- 

 ciples and laboratory tests, the beginnings and development of a chemistry of 

 agriculture, plants, soils, fertilizers, farm foods, milk and its products, and 

 insecticides and fungicides. Each chapter begins with suggested experiments 

 and is followed by review questions. 



What is the value of the usual laboratory work g'iven in general soils 

 courses? P. E. Kareaker (Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 11 {1919), No. 6, pp. 253- 

 256). — It is the purpose of this paper "to express doubt as to the justifiable 

 value to the students of the usual laboratoi*>' work in first or general soils 

 courses as compared with other work which might be taken. In particular, it 

 is desired to raise the question whether it would not be advisable to give 

 this work as separate courses, thus giving opportunity for the securing of the 

 subject matter without the laboratory work and requiring the latter only of 

 men desiring to specialize in soils or closely related work." 



Nature study and elementary agriculture {Agr. Gaz. Canada, 6 {1919), No. 

 9, pp. 8.36-839). — This is a series of brief articles dealing with nature study and 

 elementary agriculture in the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, 

 Saskatchewan, and Alberta. 



In Nova Scotia nature study and elementary agriculture are not separated, 

 agriculture being taught through nature study. In New Brunswick the sub- 

 jects are combined in a nature study and agriculture course prescribed by the 

 Board of Education. Schools are not obliged to have school gardens or home 

 plats, but the Department of Agriculture offers grants for their establishment. 



The course of study for the schools of Saskatchewan includes a course in 

 nature study for grades one to six, and in agriculture for grades seven and 

 eight. In the high schools and collegiate institutes the work is continued under 

 the head of elementary science for the first two years and is compulsory, but 

 in the third year it is known as agriculture and is an optional subject. 



Under the Alberta organization nature study belongs characteristically to 

 the first six grades of the common school, and may be said to persist as a 

 method in the laboratory teaching of grades seven and eight. In the latter 

 grades it is termed agriculture, and includes a knowledge of the essential laws 

 and principles concretely established and understood. 



The elements of animal biology, S. J. Holmes {Philadelphia: P. Blalciston's 

 Son d Co., 1919, pp. X+402, figs. 250). — This text, which is intended as an in- 

 troduction to the elements of animal biology for the use of high-school studentSj 

 comprises three parts, viz, the animal kingdom, consisting of a survey of the 

 principal groups of animals ; the elements of physiologj', including chapters 

 on the role of bacteria in causing disease, how diseases spread, and how they 

 may be avoided; and general features and adaptations, such as evolution, 

 heredity, eugenics, etc. 



Practical guide to agricultural home economics instruction, L. Rougieb, 

 C. Perret, and H. Astier {Guide Pratique de VEnseignement Manager Agricole. 

 Paris: J. B. BaiUidre & Sons, 1913, pp. 228, figs. 172).— This book, which is de- 

 signed especially for girls in rural district.?, consists of two parts dealing, re- 

 spectively, with the woman in the home and the woman on the farm. Part 1 

 includes chapters on the house, its furnishings, heating and lighting, and care; 

 cooking; laundering; sewing; hygiene; prevention of disease; and care of the 

 sick and of children. In part 2 chapters are devoted to the dairy cow ; milk ; 

 butter and cheese ; the utilization of by-products of milk, and the piggery ; 

 breeds of chickens and egg production ; raising chicks, diseases ; other fowls 

 and rabbits ; bees ; the farm garden ; and household accounts. Each chapter 

 closes with review questions, problems, and references to literature. 



