132 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



are only one of the important tests to apply to seeds, and perhaps, though 

 important, much less so than tests of trueness to name and quality of stock, we 

 are in the most cordial agreement. 



Our only criticism is that the book does not tell us enough. This is true, 

 we think, in almost every section of the many in the little book ; and indeed the 

 subject is worthy of a larger treatise where the special methods of dealing with 

 different crops may be detailed, so that we may have in reality " a practical 

 treatise on the cultivation of vegetables for the production of seeds " suitable for 

 the guidance of the expert as well as the tyro, and we hope the author may see 

 his way to give it us ere long. 



" Food Gardening for Beginners and Experts." By H. Valentine Davis, 

 B.Sc. Ed. 2. viii -f- 133 pp. (Bell, London, 1918.) Paper covers, is. net. 



We noticed this little book in its first edition (see Journal R.H.S. xliii. p. 194), 

 and are glad to see a second edition so soon called for. We fear, however, that, 

 except in highly favoured districts where the temperature is milder, the rainfall 

 ampler, the soil richer, and the light more prolonged in the " dark months " than 

 in our own southern home, those who follow the directions as to seeding and 

 planting time here given will suffer much disappointment. We have previously 

 alluded to one or two of the suggestions made, and will content ourselves by say- 

 ing that Main Crop potatos planted on June 2 and lifted by September 1, in 

 time to sow winter spinach on their site, will give as a rule a much reduced 

 crop, the reduction being much greater than is compensated for by the spinach 

 cut before the potatos went in. 



" Flora of County Kerry." By R. W. Scully, F.L.S. 8vo. lxxxi + 

 405 pp. (Hodges & Figgis, Dublin, 1916.) 12s. 6d. net. 



County Kerry is one of the most interesting parts of the United Kingdom 

 to the field naturalist, for it embraces a flora derived partly from that of S.W. 

 Europe. The country of Arbutus and numerous Saxifrages cannot fail to 

 be of outstanding interest, and the author's observations on the intermediates 

 between Saxijraga Geum and S. hirsuta, which occur so numerously on the Kerry 

 Mountains, add much of interest and value to what appears to be a very carefully 

 and conservatively written local flora. The introduction gives a full and valuable 

 account of the soil and geological features of the county. 



" The Chemistry of Farm Practice." By T. E. Keith. 8vo. xii + 253 pp. 

 (Chapman & Hall, London, 191 7.) 6s. net. 



This is an excellent elementary treatise on farm chemistry, dealing first with 

 quite elementary chemical principles and going on to the special chemistry of 

 foods, soils, insecticides and fungicides, and with one or two other things, such 

 as paint and concrete, rarely included in a handbook of this kind. Standard 

 methods of analysis are given, where analytical processes can be introduced with 

 advantage, and carefully compiled tables add to the value of a lucid account, 

 which might with advantage be put into the bands of any student. 



" School Entomology." By E. Dwight Sanderson and L. M. Peairs. 8vo. 

 vi + 356 pp. (Chapman & Hall, London, 191 7.) ys. net. 



This is intended for the use oi students in " vocational and industrial schools," 

 and well fulfils its purpose as an " elementary text-book of entomology for 

 secondary schools and agricultural short courses." The two parts of which it 

 consists deal respectively with the structure and classification of insects in 

 general, and with the methods approved for their control. They are both ex- 

 cellent, and the reputation of the senior author as an expert economic entomo- 

 logist is only added to by this latest work. We could wish that an English 

 edition of the book were available for our schools, for though the general classi- 

 i >n given will fit English conditions as well as American, yet some of the 

 examples chosen are necessarily rare in this country, and others of greater 

 importance might easily be substituted for them. 



" Sweet Pea Annual, 1919." Ed. by J. S. Brunton, F.R.H.S. 83 pp. 



(National Sweet Pea Society, 1919.) 2s. 



In spite of the Great War, which has claimed so much of our energies and 

 restricted so many of our activities, the love of flowers has not been allowed to 

 die, and Rose, Chrysanthemum, Carnation, Daffodil, Dahlia, Viola, and, not least, 

 Sweet Pea Societies, have all survived to renew their existence, we bope with 

 increased vigour, when the piping times of peace shall come again. This Annual 



