CURRENT LITERATURE. 
BOOK REVIEWS. 
The sich A of the land. 
In the volume of the Rural Science Series bearing the above title* there 
is placed in permanent form the observations, the experience, and the convic- 
tions of a man of mature years, of rare good judgment, and of wide intimate 
personal contact with the subjects and objects of the whole text. A man of 
clear thinking, pleasing expression, and warm sympathies, who winnows his 
grain clean, has given to those who will read it an extremely instructive and 
intensely practical book. 
The title chosen for the volume is such as to permit the author to present 
his views regarding the practical details of a wide range of farm problems, 
and to use a large share of the results of his own studies, and of those of 
others bearing upon them 
he subjects treated are set forth under fifteen chapters: an inventory of 
the land; the evolution of the plow; tillage and the land; conservation of 
moisture; irrigation and drainage; farm manures; manures produced by 
various animals; the waste of manures; the care, preservation, and applica- 
tion of manure; nitrogen and nitrification; the phosphoric acid and potash 
supply ; commercial fertilizers; lime and various amendments; green man- 
ures and fallows; rotations. Then follows an appendix of thirty pages pre- 
senting the fertilizing constituents of agricultural and other products, com- 
piled from various sources, in which the water, ash, nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
and potash are given in pounds per thousand pounds of the substance. A 
full index and detailed table of contents make the subject matter of the book 
contained in the 403 pages easily accessible. 
It will be evident from the foregoing that the book has in it much of value 
and interest for the plant physiologist as well as for the plant culturist. 
The thoughts which are presented in the first few pages, where the author 
has “a chat with the young farmer,” are extremely wholesome, and introduce 
the reader to the man in such a way that he is assured of good things to fol- 
low. 
The book is intended for those who think, and it is one which will appeal 
*ROBERTS, Isaac P.:—The fertility of the land, a summary sketch of the rela- 
tionship of farm practice to the maintaining and increasing the productivity of the 
soil. 12mo, pp. 440, illustrated. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1897. $1.25. 
[auGusT 
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