674. 



NATURE 



[July 29, 1920 



Cultivation of the Vine in America. 

 Manual of American Grape-growing. By U. P. 

 Hedrick. (The Rural Manuals.) Pp. xiii + 

 458 + xxxii plates. (New Yofk : The Macmillan 

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

 Price 155. net. 



THIS book is one of the series of rural manuals 

 edited by Prof. L. H. Bailey, and it should 

 prove of great use to both commercial and amateur 

 grape-growers. The opening chapter, dealing 

 with the "Domestication of the Grape," is espe- 

 cially interesting. There are about fifty named 

 species of the grape, most of them found in tem- 

 perate countries. Of the Old World grapes only 

 one species, Vitis vinifera, is cultivated for fruit, 

 but of all grapes this is of greatest economic 

 importance. Vitis vinifera is the grape of ancient 

 and modern agriculture, and is the chief agri- 

 cultural crop of Southern Europe and of vast 

 regions in other parts of the world. The written 

 records of its cultivation go back five or six thou- 

 sand years, while the ancient Egyptians are 

 known to have grown the vine for wine-making; 

 the methods and processes of domestication, 

 however, are now unknown. The records of the 

 New World yield information on the cultivation 

 of wild species of grapes, and the author describes 

 the domestication process of the four species now 

 extensively cultivated. 



The author states that "few other agricultural 

 industries are more definitely determined by en- 

 vironment than the grape industry," and he de- 

 scribes the grape regions of f^merica, ^ discussing 

 the factors which determine the suitability of a 

 region for grape-growing. Climate is the chief 

 of these factors, and is dealt with in detail. Other 

 factors treated of are soil, insects and fungi, 

 accessibility to markets, etc. 



Full information is given on propagation, fer- 

 tilisers, breeding, etc., as well as a chapter on 

 the various operations involved in transferring 

 the grapes from garden to market, together with 

 advice on the carrying out of these operations. 

 The important subject of grape pests and their 

 control is dealt with, the life-histories of the 

 several pests being given in so far as they bear 

 on the control methods. 



A particularly interesting chapter is that on 

 "Stocks and Resistant Vines," where we are 

 given an account of the root-louse Phylloxera. 

 This pest made its appearance in France in 1861, 

 and increased so rapidly that by 1874 the whole 

 vine industry of Europe was threatened with ruin. 

 The situation was saved by the realisation of the 

 fact that American grapes did not suffer from 

 NO. 2648, VOL. 105] 



Phylloxera attacks, hence the European vines 

 were saved by grafting them on the Phylloxera- 

 resistant roots of American grapes. 



The chapter on grape botany gives the general 

 botany of the vine and also includes a detailed- 

 account of the American grape species, while in 

 the chapter on varieties of grapes descriptions are 

 given of a large number of different types with 

 their respective characteristics and advantages, the 

 varieties described being those which will appeal 

 to the amateur as well as to the commercial 

 grower. The book is well supplied with illustra- 

 tions and figures. V. G. Jackson. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Ministry of Public Works, Egypt: Zoological 

 Service. Hand-list of the Birds of Egypt. By 

 M. J. Nicoll. (Publication No. 29.) Pp. xii-h 

 119-I-31 plates. (Cairo: Government Press^ 

 1919.) Price P.T.15 (35. 6d.). 

 An up-to-date treatise on the avifauna of Egypt 

 has for some time past been a desideratum in 

 ornithological literature. It is now forty-eight 

 years since the late Capt. Shelley's well-known 

 book, hitherto the foremost on the subject, ap- 

 peared, and much has been added to the know- 

 ledge of the subject in the meantime. This want 

 is well supplied in an epitomised form by Mr. 

 Nicoll 's book. 



The author, a well-known ornithologist, has 

 resided in the country for thirteen years, and 

 during the whole of this period has specially 

 devoted himself to the study of its avifauna. The 

 result of his labours is highly to be commended 

 to the bird-loving visitor to Egypt, and to all 

 who are interested in Palaearctic ornithology, to 

 whom, indeed, it is indispensable. The ornis of 

 the " Land of the Pharaohs " is not only rich in 

 its numbers — Mr. Nicoll treats of as many as 

 436 forms — but also of great interest, since its 

 native birds, though Palaearctic in the main, com- 

 prise a number of Ethiopian representatives. 

 Another notable feature is presented by the birds 

 of passage, vast. numbers of which bi-annually 

 traverse the country, especially the Nile valley^ 

 en route to northern summer haunts in spring, 

 and again in autumn on their return to their 

 accustomed tropical, equatorial, and South African 

 winter quarters. 



Among the native birds the ostrich became ex- 

 tinct seventy years ago, and it is sad to learn 

 that the characteristic and beautiful Egyptian 

 plover has practically ceased to exist. On the 

 other hand, several once declining species, among 

 them the buff-backed heron, are increasing in 

 numbers as the direct result of protection. In 

 addition to giving the status of the species and 

 sub-species known to occur in Egypt, and par- 

 ticulars on the dates of the coming and going of 

 the migrating birds, the author has furnished a 

 short and useful diagnosis of each bird. 



