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laboration, and it is to be assumed that the descriptions of desert 

 trips in search of cacti are by Frances Bonker. Together they 

 have produced a very readable, authoritative volume. It catches 

 the lure of desert beauty, the limitless desolation, the heat and 

 the marvellous awakening of cactus color that comes with cer- 

 tain seasons. And its descriptions of species, while accurate, are 

 in non-technical language. 



For the general reader and casual traveller no better book 

 on the cacti of the southwest could be written than The Fantastic 

 Clan. But upon the cultivation of them by far the best book is 

 the Orange Judd publication called Cactus Culture by Ellen D. 

 Schulz, who is the director of the Witte Memorial Museum at 

 San Antonio. 



The cultivation of cacti is very much on the increase. There 

 are many dealers in these plants, and the Santa Barbara Garden 

 Tours Committee recently issued a list of 387 species cultivated 

 in their vicinity. In many parts of the nearly frost-free southwest 

 growing cacti may be easy enough. But in areas of too much 

 moisture or too much cold their cultivation is apt to be difficult. 



The author of Cactus Culture had both audiences in mind. 

 Her practical thoroughness is obvious in her account of water- 

 ing, propagation, pests, insects, and all the pitfalls of cactus cul- 

 ture. And she has many useful hints on the making of artistic 

 cactus gardens, of which she manages one at the San Antonio 

 Museum. 



The cult of the fantastic clan is growing faster than most 

 easterners realize. Until a year or so ago there was almost no pop- 

 ular literature on cacti, but within six months three books have 

 appeared. Both of the volumes here noticed are well illustrated, 

 particularly The Fantastic Clan which, besides many half-tones 

 and line cuts, has three beautifully colored plates. Both books 

 are indexed and each of them admirably fits the niche for which 

 it was written. 



Norman Taylor 



A. J. Grout. Moss Flora of North America North of Mexico. 

 Vol. III. Part 2. 1931. 



This second part of Dr. Grout's Moss flora deals with what 

 the author calls the subfamily Amblystegieae of the family 

 Hypnaceae, perhaps better regarded as a separate family 

 Amblystegiaceae, as in the second edition of Engler & Prantl. 



