January 20, 192 1] 



NATURE 



659 



Science and Farming, 

 (i) The Small Farm and its Management. By 



Prof. Jiimes Long. Second edition. Pp. 328. 



(London : John Murray, 1920.) Price 7s. 6d. 



net. 

 {2) Farm Management. By J. H. Arnold. 



Pp. vii + 243. (New York : The Macmillan Co. ; 



London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 



7s. 6d. net. 

 (3) Types and Breeds of Farm Animals. By Prof. 



C. S. Plumb. Revised edition. (Country Life 



Education Series.) Pp. viii + 820. (Boston and 



London : Ginn and Co., 1920.) Price i6s. 6d. 



net. 



(i)r^ROF. LONG is a well-known believer in 

 I small farms, and has written much to 

 help the men who embark on such enterprises. 

 In the present volume he brings together in con- 

 venient form a great deal of the information which 

 the small farmer ought to possess if he is to make 

 his work a success. At the outset he disclaims 

 any intention of deluding his readers into the 

 belief that fortune awaits the small holder. The 

 20-acre farm, he says quite frankly, will not 

 bring much money, though it will provide a 

 healthy occupation full of interest to those who 

 really do their best. In the main, the scheme 

 proposed is the production of finished products — 

 milk, pork, poultry, or mutton. Corn scarcely 

 enters into consideration excepting only to pro- 

 vide oats for the farm stock. 



The information given is useful so far as it goes, 

 but we should like to have seen some references 

 to other books which would give fuller informa- 

 tion on specific points. The idea of rural libraries 

 is growing, and the present deficiency may not 

 always exist. On such points as the feeding of 

 animals an intelligent man might easily like more 

 information ; the latest author quoted is Wolff, 

 and no reference is given to Dr. Goodwin's trans- 

 lation of Kellner's book. 



Similarly, reference might have been made to 

 the system of advisory officers now established 

 over the country, whose function it is to deal with 

 the questions an intelligent man asks, but which 

 no book ever seems to answer. In spite of these 

 minor defects, however, the smallholder will find 

 this n useful book, both before and after he enters 

 his farm. 



(3) Mr. Arnold's is a different type of book; 

 it deals with the principles of farm management 

 so far as they have been enunciated, and though 

 it is only small and printed in large type, it con- 

 tains much that will interest the farmer as well 

 • as the student of agriculture. It is American ; 

 NO. 2673, VOL. 106] 



we know of no corresponding English book ; and 

 the figures quoted all refer to the pre-war period. 

 An inquiry is recorded as to the rate of interest 

 earned on farms in three States of the corn belt : 

 for "landlord's" expenditure (which includes much 

 of our "farmer's " expenditure) the annual return 

 was 3i per cent., and in an exceptionally good 

 region 5 J per cent., after allowing 800 dollars for 

 management salary ; this, the author states, "prob- 

 ably represents about what the best general farms 

 are doing." An interesting historical summary 

 traces the development of American agriculture 

 during the last 300 years, and shows that Ameri- 

 can farm practice is largely derived from English 

 agriculture, modified, however, by the experience of 

 the Indians. Livestock, poultry (excepting turkeys), 

 most of the common grains, vegetables, grasses, 

 and legumes all came from England, as also did 

 the principles underlying the cultivation of the 

 soil and the rotation of crops. It would be in- 

 teresting to work out the interrelationships of 

 British and American agriculture, for, if American 

 agriculture developed from ours, British agri- 

 culture in the last twenty years owes a great deal 

 to America. 



(3) Prof. Plumb's book on "Types and Breeds 

 of Farm Animals " — also American — brings out 

 prominently the part played by the British Isles 

 in the evolution of modern types of farm animals ; 

 the author draws a map showing the areas in 

 which no fewer than twenty-eight important types 

 were first bred. These have now gone out to all 

 parts of the world, but buyers still come here to 

 replenish their stocks. 



The book gives probably the best account pub- 

 lished of modern farm animals, and there are 

 good illustrations of many of the best examples to 

 be found to-day. Another very interesting feature 

 is the history of the families which the author has 

 diligently worked out ; the leading families in 

 America date back to about i88o, although in 

 England they are much older. Pedigree is more 

 important to a high-class cow than to a human 

 being, and no animal without a clear record can 

 enter the highest bovine circles. The best foreign 

 buyers insist on a pedigree going back a good 

 many years — a great advantage to the English 

 breeder. But the records of the animals described 

 by the author in America show that the American 

 stockman is doing great things, while the book 

 itself proves that the younger generation of 

 American agricultural experts is thoroughly 

 familiar with the characteristics of the breeds and 

 with the uses to which they can be put. It is a 

 book to make the British agricultural lecturer 

 think. E. J. R. 



