376 Revicics — Geology and Agriculture. 



almost entirely in tidal estuaries, the loss on the open coast. In most 

 cases the provision to protect agricultural land bordered by sea-cliffs 

 that are formed of easily eroded strata "would involve a cost far in 

 excess of the value of the land ". Along some parts of the eastern coast, 

 notably in Suffolk, the erosion has been intermittent, intervals of 

 a series of years attended by little or no enci'oachment having occurred. 

 The condition of Southwold, which has suffered grievously, has during 

 the past few years improved by the construction of a north pier and 

 by a harbour of refuge, so that the beach deposits are accumulating. 



Descriptions are given of various engineering works for the pro- 

 tection of coasts, and recommendations are made with regard to the 

 control of the foreshore, it being held " that a clear right of passage 

 by foot upon all foreshores in the United Kingdom, whether Crown 

 property or not, should be conferred upon the public". Recom- 

 mendations are also made with regard to the further areas that might 

 be reclaimed, and to loans of money for sea-defence purposes ; but 

 the Commissioners do not support the contention that sea-defence is 

 a national service. 



H. B. W. 



IV. — Geology and Agriculture. 

 A Report on the Agriculture and Soils of Kent, Surrey, and 

 Sussex. By A. D. Hall, M.A., F.R.S., Director of the Rothamsted 

 Experimental Station, and E. J. Russell, D.Sc. Published by 

 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, London. 8vo, cloth ; 

 pp. viii, 206, with 56 illustrations. Price 2s. 6d. 



NINE years ago there was published a First Report on the Soils of 

 Kent and Surrey, by Mr. Hall, who was then Principal of the 

 South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, and Mr. F. J. Plymen. 

 The main results at that time achieved are embodied with certain 

 necessary revisions, and with an account of the soils and agriculture of 

 Sussex ; and the treatment of the whole subject, or series of subjects, is 

 amplified and presented in a masterly manner in the volume before us. 



To the geologist the Report is of exceptional interest, and it may 

 be safely regarded as the most important volume published in this 

 country on the bearing of geological science on agriculture. Half 

 a century ago the practical advantages of a knowledge of geology to 

 the farmer were not so apparent as they now are. Indeed, they were 

 not to be discerned in many areas, for as S. V. Wood, jun., remarked 

 in 1865, in. reference to the eastern and midland areas, the observer 

 was " often baffled by the highly fictitious representation given in 

 every Geological Map". The fact is the Glacial Drifts, which may 

 be from a few feet to more than 200 feet in thickness, were omitted 

 from the maps, and they were not only useless but misleading from 

 an agricultural point of view. 



Since that date the Geological Survey has recognized the importance 

 of mapping all the superficial deposits, and the surveys of the subsoils, 

 which have been made on the 6 inch scale, form a sound basis for the 

 more detailed agricultural investigation of the soils. Unfortunately 

 the geological maps of large areas of England, notably in the counties 



