676 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



condensing his matter to the smallest compass. As it is not a laboratory 

 manual, all practical work is excluded. Some little inequalities are observ- 

 able : thus he gives 56 pages to Algae, 80 to Pteridophyta, and only 60 to 

 Dicotyledons. Some omissions occur, as of special light-rays for trans- 

 piration, heat for respiration, phenomena of colouring and of osmose, &c. 

 The heading of pages 369-399 should be Monocotyledons, not Angio- 

 spcrmce. 



" Round the Year." By Professor L. C. Miall, F.R.S. (Macmillan, 

 London.) 



A most delightful little book of real Nature-studies, though the word 

 " study " is suggestive of something harder than these charming notes of 

 all sorts of subjects, from " The Moon " to a " falling leaf." "Nature- 

 treats " would really convey a better idea of Professor Miall' s book, for 

 even children would regard a chapter from it as a treat. The following 

 will give an idea of the spirit and tone of the book : "If you have boys 

 and girls about you, whether your own or other people's, take them into 

 the woods and fields. Try to answer their questions ; try to put better 

 questions than they can think of. Never mind the technical names ; leave 

 all your Latin and Greek at home. . . . Never shrink from saying 1 1 

 don't know.' These words are always on the lips of a well-trained 

 naturalist." From beginning to end the reader feels insensibly that he is 

 being spoken to by a master-mind, who knows what he is speaking of so 

 thoroughly and well that he is able to explain all that he can explain with 

 perfect ease, so that the simplest can understand, and who at the same 

 time has no scruple in confessing when anything passes his understanding 

 and his explanation. 



" Forestry in Minnesota." By Samuel B. Green. (Geological and 

 Natural History Survey of Minnesota.) 1902. 



A book of this kind, the first edition of which has exhausted 10,000 

 copies, requires little to be said in its favour. One thing is evident, that 

 forestry abroad is receiving a far greater share of attention than has ever 

 before been the case, the present work being used as a text-book in no less 

 than fourteen of the agricultural colleges in Minnesota and the neighbour- 

 ing States. Primarily intended as a text-book, there is much in the four- 

 teen chapters into which the work has been subdivided that appeals directly 

 to the practical forester in this country, and from which he may gather 

 many useful hints and valuable information. The chapters on the " Rate 

 of Increase of Timber," "Propagation," and "Regeneration " are of par- 

 ticular interest ; while "Forest Protection" gives excellent advice regard- 

 ing injurious insect and animal life, and calls to mind much of what has 

 to be guarded against in our own country. " Street Trees," too, will be 

 found to contain much of a thoroughly practical nature, as, for instance, 

 the notes on mulching and pruning. There are a few minor mistakes, 

 such as advising cuttings " to be pushed into the land" — a pernicious 

 practice, unless in the freest of soils. The book is well and plentifully 

 illustrated, and must rank amongst the most useful of the works dealing 

 with forestry generally. 



