BOOK REVIEWS* 



247 



indeed, we are not told what the range of individual variation was, a 

 point absolutely essential if one is to form any judgment on the results 

 obtained from such a small number of plants, nor are we told how 

 many plants produced these pods. We hope Miss Dudgeon will give 

 us a little later fuller particulars of her interesting experiments; for if 

 mercury vapour lamps will assist the market grower to produce crops 

 even three or four days earlier than he otherwise could the result 

 will be most valuable to him. We note that the Evesham experi- 

 mental results, 1906-1909, are given. Were they continued in the 

 curiously abnormal seasons of 191 1 and 1912 ? It would be interesting 

 to know with what result if so. 



" Crops and Methods for Soil Improvement." By Alva Agee, M.S. 

 Svo., 246 pp., with 24 illustrations. (Macmillan, New York, 1912.) 

 5s. 6d. net. 



The first sentence explains the character of the book : — " This 

 book is not a technical treatise, and is designed only to point out the 

 plain, e very-day facts in the natural scheme of making and keeping 

 soils productive." Average yields of crops in the United States 

 are low because the humus content has been gradually reduced by 

 bad farming methods. There are relatively few acres remaining that 

 do not require intelligent treatment for the production of good crops, 

 and a large area has fallen below the line of profitable production, 

 especially in the eastern half, almost all of it requiring lime, organic 

 matter, and available plant food. The methods of supplying the 

 second of these, mainly by the growth of grass and legumes, occupy 

 the greater part of the book. The book is well written, with an almost 

 entire absence of any but the most elementary technical terms, and 

 should form a good handbook for those farming the lands in question, 

 while the chapters on manuring, natural and artificial, are of general 

 application. An index would be an improvement to the book, though 

 the want of this is to a great extent made up for by a paged analysis 

 of its 23 short chapters. 



" A Book of Salads. The Art of Salad Dressing." By Alfred 

 Suzanne. Revised and augmented by C. Herman Senn. 8vo., 99 pp. 

 (The Food and Cookery Publishing Agency, London, 1906.) is. 6d. 

 net. 



It is quite a remarkable fact that many English people have not 

 the faintest idea of a salad beyond lettuce, endive, and beet, accom- 

 panied by a more or less indigestible dressing highly flavoured with 

 vinegar. Yet, as is shown in this work, many very delicious and 

 appetizing dishes can be prepared from almost any vegetable or fruit. 

 The "Book of Salads" is very complete and contains some 198 

 recipes, including even salads composed of ostrich eggs and chrysan- 

 themums, and it will be found a useful adjunct to the culinary 

 library. 



