388 



NATURE 



[February 25, 1S92 



AN AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



Elements of Agriculture. A Text-book prepared under 

 the authority of the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England. By W. Fream, LL.D. Pp. 450, 200 Figures. 

 (London : John Murray, 1892.) 



DR. FREAM'S new book, the first edition of which 

 was exhausted on the day of publication, is a dis- 

 tinct gain to agricultural literature. We naturally expect 

 such a work from Dr. Fream's pen to have the botanical 

 portions of the subject dealt with at considerable length, 

 and in this we are not mistaken, half the book being 

 taken up by the discussion of the various plants with 

 which the farmer has to deal, either as crops or weeds. 

 This division has to be made, to some extent, at the ex- 

 pense of other branches of the subject, which is perhaps 

 not quite a desirable thing to do in a general text-book ; 

 though it might be argued that it is far better to do one 

 thing well than to do several things indifferently, and 

 Dr. Fream has certainly done one thing well in his 

 treatment of " The Plant." The style is good, and the 

 descriptions very lucid, concise, and sound, the book 

 containing a vast store of information in small compass. 

 There is not, however, a single reference to any original 

 paper, an omission especially to be regretted when the 

 author is discussing the Rothamsted experiments ; in 

 fact, we think that the addition of a list of the papers 

 published by Lawes and Gilbert would have considerably 

 enhanced the value of the book. 



The author divides his work into three parts. Part I., 

 which occupies the first ']'] pages, treats of the origin and 

 properties of the different kinds of soils, their improve- 

 ment, cultivation, and manuring. Part II., "The Plant," 

 occupies a full half of the book (pp. 78-302). The 

 first two chapters of this part treat of seeds and their 

 germination, and the structure and functions of plants, 

 these subjects being discussed in popular, but very in- 

 structive fashion. 



Chapter xi. treats of the cultivated plants of the farm, 

 grouped under the natural orders to which they belong. 

 This is the longest chapter in the book, and includes 

 30 pages given to the consideration of the natural 

 order Gramineas. Then follow a short chapter on 

 weeds, and chapters upon harvest machinery and the 

 management of grass land. In chapter xvi., the theory 

 of rotations is ably dealt with ; the various crops of the 

 farm, with their cultivation, are considered in turn ; this 

 chapter also contains a handy table of the characters 

 of the seeds of the common farm crops. In the second 

 column of this table, opposite mangel, is the statement, 

 " Should germinate at least 120 per cent, (see p. 141)." 

 On turning to p. 141 we find the following : — 



" The seed of commerce (mangel) consists of the ovary 

 with its seeds, embedded in the swollen base of the 

 perianth, which thickens and hardens as it ripens, 

 becoming angular and somewhat woody. Hence, when 

 a mangel or beet seed is set to germinate, it is not unusual 

 for two or three shoots to appear from a single seed." 



On p. 97 are some remarks on this very matter, with 

 definitions of fruit and seed : " The fruit is the ripened 

 ovary, the seed\% the fertilized and ripened ovule." Is it 

 not better to adhere to these definitions, and thus avoid 

 NO. I 165, VOL. 45] 



speaking of the germination of a sample of seed as over 

 1 20 per cent. } 



On p. 282, Dr. Fream speaks positively upon the much- 

 debated practice of burning diseased potato-haulms. 

 Further research upon the liability of old haulms to 

 propagate the fungus {Phytophthora infestans) is much 

 needed. The writer's own observations by no means 

 lead him to consider them so dangerous in spreading 

 disease as some people think they are. The question of 

 the utility of sulphate of copper as a remedy for potato 

 disease is dismissed in very few words. It is to be hoped 

 that the subject will receive fuller treatment in succeed- 

 ing editions, as many trials have recently been made ; 

 and although these have not always been attended with 

 success, many of the failures reported turn out upon 

 investigation to be due to the fact that the Bouillie 

 Bordelaise (or other mixture) was improperly prepared or 

 improperly applied. It would appear that impurities in 

 the mixture exert considerable influence upon its efficacy 

 as a check on the growth of the fungus. The use of a 

 mixture of sulphates of iron and copper with lime generally 

 gives negative results ; and even the presence of ferrous 

 sulphate in any quantity in commercial bluestone appears 

 at times to exert a deleterious effect. 



The third part of the book contains a short account of 

 the structure and functions of farm animals, their various 

 breeds, and also chapters upon feeding. The subject of 

 dairying is dismissed in a chapter of 20 pages, and is the 

 least satisfactory portion of the book. Under " Cheddar 

 Cheese making " is given a process which is rather in- 

 definite, and seems a sort of mixture of several methods ; 

 the instructions for this process are vague, the tempera- 

 tures (where given) are rather uncertain, and nothing 

 whatever is said as to the proper condition of the curd 

 at the end of each operation. On p. 429 this remark is 

 made : — 



" Real Stilton, for example, is a double cream cheese, 

 the cream of the evening's milk being added to the 

 morning's milk." 



" Real Stilton " of this nature is a myth ; the so-called 

 ''cream Stiltons" are made from two curds, and do 

 not contain added cream, the term being used (rather 

 ambiguously we confess) to signify that no cream was 

 abstracted from the milk used in making the cheeses. 



A few errors in the text may be mentioned here. On 

 p. 65 and elsewhere, ammonium carbonate is spoken of 

 as a volatile gas ; it would be more accurately described 

 as a volatile solid. The average percentages of albu- 

 minoids in certain foods given in Table xviii. (p. 343) are 

 most of them too low. In Table xx. (p. 344) the per- 

 centage of albuminoids in cotton cake is put down at 

 23-17, whilst it is given as 19 in Table xviii. on the 

 previous page ; the former value is more nearly an 

 average one. The percentages of soluble carbohydrates 

 in some feeding stuffs given in Table xxi. are not quite 

 satisfactory ; those for wheat, barley, and bean straws are 

 much too high, especially that of 35 for bean straw; 

 about one-fifth that figure would be nearer the truth. 

 We think it would have saved space, and much trouble 

 and confusion to the student, if Tables xviii., xix., xxi., 

 xxiii., xxiv., and xxvi. had been combined, and the full 

 analyses of the feeding stuffs given in a single table. 



