76 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
MINOR NOTICES 
Plant breeding.—A new edition of BartLey’s Plant breeding has been pre- 
pared by GI£BERT.3 The preceding edition, the fourth, appeared in 1906. 
The new edition includes much of the material of the older ones, and in addi- 
tion presents the results of the more recent investigations in genetics that have 
removed plant breeding from the simple operations of a few years ago, and 
have made of it a subject of rigid experimental work, with a wealth of special 
terminology. Professor BAILEY voices a feeling among the older botanists 
e says: “The literature has now become complex and difficult, with 
considerable gain no doubt in a closer acquaintance with the subject, and a 
nearer approach to the ultimate truth; but the charm of the simple literature 
is largely buried, and I fear that much of our interest is now expressed in the 
discussion of methods and in disputing about the reasons. Yet we are accumu- 
lating knowledge, and after a time we shall come back to clarity and to a sim- 
plicity that the layman can use.” 
The titles of the chapters indicate the contents: The fact and philosophy 
of variation; The causes of individual differences; The choice and fixation of 
variations; The measurement of variation; Mutations; The philosophy of the 
crossing of plants; Heredity; How domestic varieties originate; Pollination; 
and The forward movement in plant breeding. 
A most useful feature of the book is the very complete bibliography, which 
includes 59 pages of citations, extending from 1905 to 1912, inclusive. There 
are also 27 laboratory exercises, which will be most helpful to teachers who 
wish to make plant breeding a laboratory course rather than a series of lec- 
tures.—J. M. C. 
The coco-nut——Under this title CopELAND‘ has published a detailed 
account of one of the most valuable plants of the tropics. Naturally the book 
is of chief interest to those engaged in the culture of the coco-nut palm. In 
the introduction the origin and spread of this palm as a crop plant is considered. 
Assent is given to the belief that it is a native of the American tropics, and that 
in very early times it was carried across the Pacific and introduced into Poly- 
nesia, where it has become a crop of the first importance. From Polynesia it 
reached New Guinea and Malaya, but not Australia. Much more recently it 
has been introduced along all tropical coasts. 
The chapters deal with the physiology of the plant, climate and soil, dis- 
eases and pests, selection and treatment of seed, field culture, and products. 
The products of the coco-nut are considered under four heads: toddy, a general 
name referring to the sap, which is the source of drinks of various kinds an 
LEY, L. H., Plant breeding. New edition revised by nist W. GILBERT. 
8vo. pp. lea be. 113. New York: Macmillan. rgr5. $2. 
4 oe E. B., The coco-nut. 8vo. pp. xiv-+212. pls. 23. Yeah Macmil- 
lan. 1914. 
