406 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



soil the organisms that are harmful to plants and for encouraging 

 the development of bacteria essential to vegetative growth. Under 

 the heading, Suggestions for the Right Selection of Apple Stocks, 

 is shown that g'reat progress is being made toward determnnng, 

 out of the prevailing confusion regarding the selection of dwarfing 

 stocks, those that actually are of the best type. After several 

 other excellent articles come a large number of book reviews and 

 condensed abstracts from "Current Periodical Literature^ British 

 and Foreign, affecting iriorticulture and Horticultural Science. 

 Then follow the reports of the various committees of the society 

 and a list of new books dealing with horticulture in its various 

 and many phases. 



P.\STOR.\L AND AGRICULTURAL BoTANY, by John W. Harshberger, 

 Ph. D. ; xiii -f 294 pages with 121 illustrations; 8vo., flexible 

 cloth ; F. Blakiston's Son & Co., Philadelphia. 



This is a verv beautifully formed and very scholarly work in 

 which the Profe'ssor of Botany in the University of Pennsylvania 

 summarizes succinctly and presents clearly what is known about 

 the injurious and the useful plants of America. The treatment 

 is that which adapts the book to use in the class roorn. But the 

 arrangement is such that the layman also may readily find out 

 about any plant that is suspected of having caused the poisoning 

 of man or beast or he can trace to its cause, if it lies in the vege- 

 table world, any particular case of poisoning in the garden or 

 on the farm. Better still he may inform himself, quite readily, 

 concerning the plants that are apt to have injurious effects, 

 whether through contact or through being taken into the system. 

 In these processes the reader will be assisted by the many illus- 

 trations, all so clear and appropriate. For wider and more de- 

 tailed study are provided bibliographies, as well as careful sugges- 

 tions for making practical experiments in the laboratories. 



But nearly two-thirds of the book is devoted to plants culti- 

 vated in Arnerica for yielding food to both man and beast; the 

 edible grasses, the cereals and the legumes are treated, as are the 

 harmful plants in the first part of the book, from the standpoint 

 of botanical study and in a practical manner. Chapters of su- 

 perior interest and value in this interesting and valuable little 

 book are the last three : Leguminous Root Tubercles, the Ac- 

 cumulation of Nitrogen and Xitrogen-consuming Plants; Weeds 

 and Weed Control; Agricultural Seeds, Selection and Testing. 



Element.«v Agriculture, by James S. Grim, Ph. D. ; xvi + 

 502 pages; cloth 8vo ; .-Xllyn and Bacon, Boston. ($1.40.) 



This is an admirable book, not only for every country boy and 

 girl to study, but for every farmer and farmer's wife to read and 

 even, in these days of renewed movement back to the land, for 

 every city school teacher and pastor and social worker, as well 

 as every suburbanite and, it might even be added, for every 

 gardener, owner of an estate or superintendent^ of one and for 

 every raiser of livestock. In its adaptation to its primary pur- 

 pose, that of serving as a text book, it seems to be beyond 

 criticism. The author exhibits upon every page a genuine peda- 

 gogic instinct, well trained by experience, coupled with general 

 culture of a high degree. Every chapter and every section is ex- 

 cellently framed to attract reading and really to teach. The un- 

 usually many pictures interspersed throughout are well chosen and 

 clear. Each chapter is followed by a set of Practical Questions 

 carefully thought out, by a set of Home Exercises that must be 

 inviting' to the intelligent boy or girl living upon a farm, by 

 Suggestions, nicely pointed, for pupil and teacher alike, and by 

 References to Books and Farmers' Bulletins. Of the valuable 

 appendices C alone might be criticised for failing to name and to 

 locate, after the Agricultural Colleges of the LTnited States, the 

 experiment stations, also. Appendix D may possibly not cite all 

 the worthwhile Magazine Articles on .-\gricnlture ; but it is a 

 valuable feature of the book. Appendix F is a much needed set- 

 ting forth of the Use of Farmers' Bulletins which are perhaps 

 not alwavs as teachable as might be desired. 



As before mentioned, finality in plant breeding by hybridization, 

 has not been reached. There has not yet been evolved any 

 method whereby the production of hybrids with certain fixed 

 characters will result when carried on by seed. Selection and 

 roguing is always necessary and the method of inheritance of 

 many fundamental characters will probably remain obscure for 

 many years. 



In the present day the most important line of work among, 

 hvbridists and plant-breeders is the production of varieties im- 

 mune from, or resistcnt to, disease rather than anything else. 



WILLIAM H. LUTTON. 



The many horticultural friends of William H. Lutton, founder 

 of the present William H. Lutton Company, will be grieved to 

 learn of his death on Tuesday, November 23. at his home at Ridge- 

 wood, N. J., as the result of an automobile accident early in 

 November. 



Mr. Lutton was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., forty-four years ago. 

 He received his early training in greenhouse heating under the- 

 late Samuel Burns of Thomas W. Weathered & Sons Co., and in 

 1900 went into the greenhouse business for himself, incorporating 

 in 1914 and serving until recently as President and General' 

 Manager. 



Mr. Lutton was an indefatigable worker, always on the alert 



A LESSON ON PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 



{Continued from page 403) 

 Finality, however, is a long way off. There is no certainty which 

 characters in the respective parents of the hybrid will be dorninant, 

 whether none of those characters will occupy that position, or 

 whether plants having intermediate characters between the two 

 will result. In the latter case some very valuable results have 

 been obtained in various directions. For instance, the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has taken the cold resistant trifoliate orange 

 which is a deciduous species, and hybridized it with some kinds 

 of the tender, sweet oranges, which are evergreen. The resulting 

 hybrids of the first generation have generally been semi-deciduous, 

 and intermediate as to hardiness, and some of the fruits produced 

 valuable. In these latter cases further reproduction can be carried 

 on by vegetative methods, although according to one of the laws 

 of Mendelism a second generation from seed would probably result 

 in the characters being split up and extreme hardiness or sweetness 

 become dominant. 



iriUiani H. Lutton 



for new ideas and improvements ; and because of his sterling: 

 qualities, progressiveness and thorough knowledge of his business,, 

 enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of the foremost authorities- 

 on the construction and heating of greenhouses. 



Mr. Lutton is survived by his widow- and daughter, his mother,. 

 and six brothers and sisters. His many friends will learn with 

 sorrow that during the past twelve months his family has been 

 swept heavily by the tide of misfortune, he being the third to- 

 pass aw-ay, two daughters having gone before. All who knew him 

 join in extending to his widow and family their deepest 

 s\'mpathy in the loss of so brilliant a member. 



I O^ Iniere&t to Country Estate Owners | 



1 The National Association of Gardeners takes this opportunity = 



1 to place its Service Bureau at the disposal of owners of country § 



1 estates when requiring competent gardeners, in the capacities of ^ 



H superintendents, head gardeners or assistant gardeners — thor- h 



1 oughly qualified in every particular to assume the responsibilities s 



I the positions call for — gardeners truly efficient in their profession. 1= 



1 T!ie Bureau is maintained entirely at the expense of the ^ 



1 association and makes no charge to the employer it may serve g- 

 § 01 to the member it may benefit. §■ 



I NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS | 



M. C. EBEL, Secretary 



2S6 Fifth .Ave. 



New York 



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