600 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



It would be impossible to give details of the work of each of the 

 many botanists mentioned ; but in every case it appears to be admir- 

 ably and conc'sely expressed, for Green had thoroughly grasped his 

 subject and treated it in a most masterly way. 



" Plant Life : Addresses given at the Early Morning Adult Schools, 

 Birmingham." With 130 Illustrations. By T. H. Russell, F.L.S. 

 la. 8vo. 71 pp. (Cornish, Birmingham, 1913.) 2s. 6d. net. 



It contains five lectures on the root, stem and branches, leaves, 

 flower and fruit. Each was issued separately at id. each (the book 

 being 2s. 6d.). The illustrations (photographs and drawings) are 

 mostly good, but that of the " Root Hairs " is not equal to the rest. 

 The descriptions of the parts of plants are almost entirely morphologi- 

 cal, but occasionally the late author dealt with the uses of structures. 

 These might have been more developed. 



A few inaccuracies may be noticed. The section of an entire grain 

 of wheat is called the " Wheat Embryo." Ivy roots do not require 

 crannies, for they climb up a fiat brick wall. The illustration given is 

 of a shoot which was not attached, the roots having grown out straight. 

 Why plants with " traihng stems," as Ranunculus repens, should belong 

 to the " earlier forms of vegetable life " is not stated, &c. Otherwise 

 the descriptions are plain and simple, and adapted to children. 



" A Guide to Rose Culture in the Bombay Presidency." By G. B. 

 Patwardhan, B.Sc. 8vo., 45 pp. (Bulletin of the Agri-Horticultural 

 Society of Western India, No. 7, 1914.) i rupee 8 annas. 



A little book, which is designed to instruct the good people of 

 Bombay how to grow the Rose. 



We gather that the Rose is grown there at present chiefly in pots, 

 and the author is doubtless right in suggesting that growing them in 

 the open ground will be found more satisfactory, in that ground plants 

 maintain a supply of blossoms over a lorger period than pot plants. 



The early part of the book gives directions for propagation and 

 cultivation, which on the whole are satisfactory, though some of the 

 headings are treated very shortly ; e.g. the chapter on pruning is rather 

 summarily dismissed with little but a couple of quotations. 



Over the matter of classification, however, the writer comes badly 

 to grief, and his Hst of varieties is one we should consider in this country 

 quite out of date. We have noticed no reference to any Wichuraiana 

 or multiflora hybrids, or the Polyantha pompons or the Pernetian 

 hybrids, and barely half a dozen H.T.'s are named. Then it is curious 

 to find ' La France ' and ' Captain Christy ' placed among the H.P.'s, while 

 ' Frau Karl Druschki ' and * Xavier OHbo ' are put among the Teas ! 



" The Coconut." By Edwin Bingham Copeland. 8vo., xiv -f- 

 212 pp., with illustrations. (Macmillan, London, 1914.) los. net. 



The importance of the coconut in modern commerce is indicated 

 by the number of books which have recently appeared dealing with 

 this subject, either in a general way or in one or other of its many 



