BOOK REVIEWS. 



361 



" A First Book of School Gardening." By A. Logan. 8vo. 

 vii + 151 pp. (Macmillan, London, 1915) is. 6d. net. 



We like the plan of this book. An exercise is given, and the way 

 to do it indicated ; then a discussion of its particular and general 

 bearings follows, and finally exercises in writing notes and comments 

 upon it. The author has grasped an excellent method of teaching 

 school gardening so as obtain much of its really educational value. 

 One may not agree with quite all the author suggests : e.g., his diction 

 is perhaps a little difficult at times for school children of eleven or 

 twelve, and the introduction of secateurs is perhaps not wise, for there 

 is no tool capable of doing more harm if not kept in first-class order — 

 and they are not easy to keep in order — but the book is certainly one 

 of the best with which we have met, from a teaching point of view. 



" Plant-Breeding." By L. H. Bailey and A. W. Gilbert. Revised 

 edition. 8vo. xviii + 474 PP- (Macmillan Co., New York, 1915.) 

 8s. 6d. net. 



Many of us remember with pleasure the inspiring text Professor 

 L. H. Bailey gave us upon " Plant-Breeding " in the first edition of 

 this book, published in 1895. Our knowledge of the subject has grown 

 by leaps and bounds since then, and the need for a thorough revision 

 has become paramount. This revision has been entrusted to Professor 

 Gilbert, and though one misses the touch of Professor Bailey's hand, 

 his collaborator has produced a reliable text bringing up to date the 

 various methods now in vogue of studying plant-breeding from a 

 variety of angles. 



The author considers the facts of variation, and the causes of it, 

 apparently accepting among others the action of environment, which 

 may have, he believes, either an immediate or a cumulative effect 

 upon the offspring. The methods and aims of purposeful selection, 

 the measurement of variation, mutations, hybridization, heredity, the 

 origin of domestic varieties, practical plant-breeding, and an account of 

 the concerted efforts now being made in the States to forward plant- 

 breeding, are all discussed. A needed glossary of terms, including one 

 or two new ones (" plateation " — a physiological variation caused 

 by external influences, such as locality, climate, soil, and so forth, 

 sometimes called" place- variation " — one of the three kinds of varia- 

 tion : fluctuation, mutation, and plateation), and an extensive biblio- 

 graphy, followed by a series of practical exercises, complete a very 

 useful text-book for the use of college students. 



" The Cherries of New York." By U. P. Hedrick. Being the 

 Report of the New York Experimental Station for 1914. 4to. 371 pp. 



The valuable series of monographs which Mr. Hedrick and his 

 assistants are producing are well known to British pomologists, and 

 the volume on cherries which has just reached this country will be 

 cordially welcomed. 



