1898] CURRENT LITERATURE 59 
for existence among the branches of a tree, and some of them must perish ; 
the destruction of these branches, therefore, must conduce to the betterment 
of those that remain. 
Most fruit-growers advise early and continuous pruning as a means of 
saving time, and also to direct the energy of the tree which is put forth to 
produce these superfluous branches into those which are to remain. Professor 
Bailey believes that annual pruning is desirable, but he is equally convinced 
that it does not pay, either in cost of pruning or in good to the tree, to cut out 
all superfluous branches at each pruning. These twigs can often be left till 
three or four years old with advantage. Pruning in itself cannot be injurious 
so long as it does not interfere with the nutrition of the plant. Eight reasons 
are given why pruning should be done. 
Part II treats more of the details of everyday practice in starting and 
shaping the heads of plants ; and here the reader is urged to bear in mind the 
distinction between training or trimming the plant into some desired form, 
and pruning for definite results in the welfare of the plant and in fruit- 
bearing. 
In discussing the subject of root-pruning the so-called Stringfellow sys- 
tem of stub-root pruning is compared with the ordinary method. Results 
obtained by the author at the Cornell Experiment Station proved that trees 
moderately root-pruned were clearly the best. thers, however, have had 
good results from the Stringfellow method, all of which shows that this method 
is to be considered a matter of local practice and not a matter of general 
principle. 
The closing chapters of the book treat of training American grapes. 
The various methods are fully discussed and illustrated, thereby making this 
one of the most valuable features of the book, especially to the American 
8tape-grower.— J. TRoop. 
Fossil botany. 
Boranists and geologists both are bound to welcome Professor Seward’s 
work on fossil plants, the first volume of which has recently appeared.* This 
book forms one of the familiar Cambridge “Natural Science Manuals,” and 
‘S rather more extensive than the others. It is surely safe to say that no 
§€neral work on paleobotany had yet appeared in English that is satisfactory 
to both botanists and geologists, and very few that are satisfactory to either. 
Thus it is a pleasure to read in the preface that this book is intended for 
ning botanists and geologists, and hence has to be adapted to both non-geolo- 
§ists and non-botanists, since it is unfortunately true that neither class as a 
A.C.: Fossil plants for students of botany and geology. Vol. I. pp. 
*SEWarp, : 
459, with illustrations, Cambridge: University Press. 1898. 
