6o4 



NA TURE 



[April 27, 1905 



Dr. Rein was in Japan lie had, for tlie most part, lo 

 depend on himself for the collection of information 

 on this part of his subject; but in the interval many 

 ardent students of science have been trained in Japan, 

 and they have collaborated with him in bringing the 

 matter up to date, so we have very valuable chapters 

 on the geological formation of the country, its physio- 

 graphy, hydrography, climate, flora and fauna ; while 

 very complete lists of books and papers dealing with 

 the various departments of the subjects are given 

 which will be useful to those who wish to study them 

 thoroughly. 



The part relating to the history of the country has 

 had a section added to it dealing more fully with the 

 events which have occurred during the past quarter 

 of a century, and gives a very good outline of the 

 developments which have taken place. It deals, how- 

 ever, only with what may be called the natural history 

 or facts of the subjects involved, and does not attempt 

 to explain the natural philosophy or dynamics. No 

 doubt the author would say that that was beyond the 

 scope of his work ; but it is possible to make descrip- 

 tions much more interesting and intelligent when the 

 forces at work are at least indicated, and the direc- 

 tions and amounts of their resultants explained. The 

 full discussion of this, however, would take us into 

 details of historical methods about which there is still 

 considerable difference of opinion. 



Under anthropology and ethnology a considerable 

 amount of new matter has been introduced, in which 

 are given the results of recent investigations and 

 speculations. An interesting sketch is given of the 

 Japanese language and literature and of the manners 

 and customs of the Japanese. A short account is 

 given of the Japanese calendar and of the national 

 festivals. The part dealing with the religious con- 

 ditions of Japan is too short to allow justice to be done 

 to it, and it does not give an adequate account of 

 recent developments. The present war with Russia 

 has been a revelation of the " soul of the people," a 

 full explanation of vi^hich would require a book for 

 itself. Still, Dr. Rein might have tried to bring this 

 section up to date as well as the others. Its full 

 comprehension, however, requires something more 

 than what is usually called a scientific mind, and 

 comparatively few men of science seem capable of 

 entering on it with understanding. They for the 

 most part are content to look at a people from the 

 outside, forgetting the fact that the most powerful 

 factors in the evolution of a nation are intellectual 

 and spiritual. 



The concluding part of the book deals with the 

 topography of the country, and is a valuable con- 

 tribution to the subject. Some useful maps are in- 

 cluded in the book, and a very complete table of con- 

 tents renders the various subjects very accessible. 

 We venture to hope that a new edition of the second 

 volume on the " Industries of Japan " will soon be 

 forthcoming, for, notwithstanding all the changes 

 which have taken place, the industrial Japan depicted 

 by Prof. Rein still, to a very large extent, remains, 

 ;md only from it can the real Japan be known. 



Hknrv Dvkk. 

 NO. 1852, VOL. 71] 



MAKING A PASTURE. 

 The Agricultural Changes required by these Times, 

 and Laying doxvn Land to Grass. By R. H. Elliot. 

 Third edition. Pp. xxiii + 197. (Kelso : Ruther- 

 ford, 1905.) 

 1\/rR. ELLIOT and " Elliot's system " and " Elliot's 

 mixtures " have been not a little before the 

 agricultural public during the last ten years or so, 

 but we have not before had the opportunity of read- 

 ing at length a full account of " the system " as set 

 out by the author. 



Indeed, we doubt if we should have been very much 

 wiser now, so formless and discursive is the book, had 

 not the publishers been kind enough to provide a 

 synopsis for the guidance of the reviewer. 



To put the matter briefly, Mr. Elliot farms some poor 

 high-lying land in the neighbourhood of Kelso, and 

 has found it profitable to adopt a system of laying it 

 down to grass for periods of four to six years, after 

 which it will carry two crops of turnips and two ol 

 cereals, in the last of which it is laid down again to 

 grass for another period. The essence of the system 

 is that with the usual grass seeds, or rather with a 

 grass mixture containing a large proportion of cocks- 

 foot and the coarse fescues instead of rye grass, a 

 considerable amount of chicory, burnet, sheep's 

 parsley, kidney vetch, and other tap-rooted plants are 

 sown, although some of these, like the burnet and the 

 chicory, are regarded as undesirable weeds in many 

 parts of the country. Mr. Elliot claims that the dee]) 

 roots of these plants, by opening up and, on their 

 decay, aerating the subsoil, act as the most efficient 

 agents of cultivation and bring about a great ameliora- 

 tion in the texture of the soil. Further, he obtains a 

 good turf quickly and at little cost, so that when the 

 land comes under the plough again he can grow four 

 crops on the accumulated fertility without the use of 

 any manure. 



It will be seen that the one point which can in any 

 way be held to distinguish Mr. Elliot's from other 

 systems of temporary pastures is the use of chicory, 

 burnet, and similar plants in the grass mixtures. It 

 is probably a sound idea to introduce these deep- 

 rooting plants, though we should infinitely prefer the 

 equally deep-rooting but far more valuable sainfoin and 

 lucerne anywhere south of the Trent, yet it leaves us 

 wondering what all the coil is about. What is then 

 so novel or so fundamental about the scheme that the 

 Board of Agriculture should have been expected tc 

 take up Mr. Elliot's 1250 acres and by preaching on 

 that text revolutionise British agriculture? Mr. 

 Elliot's system appears to have succeeded on his own 

 somewhat special soil and climate, but there is little 

 reason to suppose it would bo equally suitable to the 

 bulk of our farming land. Indeed, we have only 

 Mr. Elliot's opinion that it has succeeded in his own 

 case, for though he writes of the experiments on the 

 Clifton on Bovvmont farm, of experiments in any rigid 

 sense we see no trace. We never read of comparative 

 results when one part of a field was sown with Elliot's 

 mixtures, the other with an ordinary seedsman's pre- 

 scription, nor have we any b.ilance sheet setting out 

 the fin.mcial returns from iwo liilds, farmed one (in 



