720 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORT1C ULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



the reader is informed : " A frequent change of seed is not necessarily a 

 good thing ; certainly it is not necessary to obtain seed from distant 

 parts of the country for a region whose soil and climate are well suited 

 to the crop. If the region is not well adapted to the crop, frequent new 

 supplies of seed may be helpful and even essential." Obviously the 

 principles set out in these statements are of wide application, although 

 they can conveniently be studied best in plants so widely grown as the 

 cereals. Hence the book may be profitably read by a much wider circle 

 of readers than agriculturists. 



" Mendelism." By R. C. Punnett. Sm. 8vo. 63 pp. (Macmillan & 

 Bowes, Cambridge ; Macmillan & Co., London.) 2s. net. 



This useful handbook explains the Mendelian principles of heredity 

 in a clear, concise, and altogether admirable manner. First, a brief 

 biography of Mendel (1822-1884) is given, with a note on the unfortunate 

 neglect of his work by his contemporaries, and the romantic re-discovery 

 of his paper in 1900. Then follows a short account of Mendel's experi- 

 ments with Peas, on which the Mendelian principles of heredity are 

 based ; the phenomena of dominance and segregation, the theory of unit- 

 characters, gametic segregation, and gametic purity are all in their turn 

 introduced to the reader. The results of recent work with Sweet Peas, 

 Stocks, Maize, mice, rabbits, and poultry, all of which confirm and extend 

 the Mendelian principles, are noted by Mr. Punnett, who, being himself 

 in daily contact with many of the experiments, is able to give the facts at 

 first hand. This particularly applies to the interesting stories of the 

 ' Emily Henderson ' Sweet Pea, Primula x pyramidalis ; the Andalusian 

 and the ' Walnut -conib ' fowls ; all of which illustrate the rapid strides 

 recently made in Mendelian research. Mr. Punnett concludes with 

 suggestive references to the profound influence which Mendelism must 

 exercise on current biological conceptions of evolution as well as on 

 eooxu mic breeding and social science. Altogether this little work is to be 

 commended to all who wish to make themselves acquainted with the 

 important discoveries of Mendel, and to keep in touch with recent research 

 in heredity. The practical gardener, as well as the hybridist, will read 

 with pleasure and profit the few notes at the end of the book on the up- 

 t>date methods employed in crossing varieties of Peas and Sweet Peas 

 so as to ensure reliable results. 



" A Gardener's Year." By H. Rider Haggard. 8vo., 404 pp. (Long- 

 mans, London.) 12s. 6(7. net. 



We have never read a book on horticulture written in such an instruc- 

 tive and interesting style as this work. Mr. Rider Haggard is always 

 fascinating in his writings, and he has carried the same delighful method 

 into what is usually a dry subject. As a frontispiece, a plan with a key to 

 Mr. Rider Haggard's garden is given, which might with advantage be 

 copied by anyone intending to lay cut a moderate-sized garden. The 

 long stretch of lawn facing the house is not disfigured by a number of 

 useless and often expensive beds, always more or less unsatisfactory. 

 In the chapter on " The Garden, Past and Present," a very interesting 

 description is given of how it was made, and what it is now. Following 



