58(> 



.JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the fact that the term " Tyrolese " covers all larch seed that is not British, 

 and that it is not all alike suitable for our insular conditions goes 

 without saying. Considerable doubt is thrown upon the suitability of 

 the Japanese larch to act as a substitute for the European species, but 

 . those who have seen every European larch diseased, and every Japanese 

 larch sound, in a mixed wood of the two species, will have more 

 confidence in the value of the latter. It seems only to contract the 

 disease when badly mauled by deer, or severely crippled in some 

 other way. 



It is to be regretted that the remark regarding the fine tree 

 Thuja plicata, that it is 'rarely blown down,' cannot be justified by 

 the experience at Kilmun, where hundreds of beautiful specimens have 

 recently been levelled with the ground. 



In the first sentence of the Introduction it is stated that " The object 

 of this work is to give an account of all the trees which grow naturally 

 or are cultivated in Great Britain, and which have attained, or seem likely 

 to attain, a size which justifies their being looked on as timber trees, 

 but does not include those which are naturally of shrubby or bushy 

 habit." It would appear that those limitations are overstepped in the 

 case of the first species to be discussed, namely Fogus Jaruginea, 

 regarding which it is said : " In no case do these [presumably the 

 largest specimens in England] attain more than 15 feet in height. . . . 

 It is very probable that ... it will never reach timber size in this 

 climate." 



Perhaps the authors would be glad to have their attention called 

 to a few slips that have been noticed in a cursory glance through 

 the pages. Although the section on the Distribution of the Beech is 

 initialled "A. H. and II. J. E.," one finds references on p. 13 to " my 

 friend," and to what " I saw." On the other hand, the Introduction, 

 which is uninitialled, contains the editorial 11 We," but from internal 

 evidence it would appear to require "II. J. E." at the end. The note 

 facing plate 5S is in the first person singular, but bears no initials. 

 The plate between 68 and 70 is neither numbered nor described. 

 On p. 6 the hazel is said to possess aerial cotyledons. There is a 

 mistake in punctuation in the first foot-note on p. 213 that somewhat 

 alters the sense. " Jagdwesen," on p. 186, is misspelt, and three pages 

 later Monreith is said to be in Dumfriesshire. But these trifling 

 blemishes hardly affect the value of these fine volumes, of which three 

 have already appeared, with two or three more in prospect. The price 

 is not stated, but it is understood to be somewhat beyond the means of 

 all but the well-to-do. 



" Practical Agricultural Chemistry." By F. 1). S. Robertson, F.C.S. 

 8\o., 210 pp. (Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox, London.) 7s. 0>d. net. 



This book should prove very useful to the student of agricultural 

 chemistry, as it contains concise, generally clear, and accurate directions 

 for the analysis of a considerable number of substances — such as soils, 

 manures, milk, water, and so on — with which the agricultural chemist 

 has to deal. One misses some of the more frequently used methods 

 of analysis, but, on the whole, the work thoroughly covers the special 



