602 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



item in the manufacture of whisky and gin, beer, starch, glucose, 

 &c., and also enters into foodstuffs for human consumption. Manu- 

 facturers are also constantly finding new uses for maize, and the 

 demand is steadily increasing. In the writer's opinion South Africa 

 is an ideal country for the production of the maize crop for the supply 

 of the European market, and already there are good grounds for the 

 prophecy that South Africa will one day be the " maize granary of 

 Europe." The climatic conditions of a large part of the Orange River 

 Colony, Transvaal, Natal, Rhodesia, Basutoland, Swaziland, and the 

 Transkei are said to be all that could be desired for maize-growing. 

 The crop is already the favourite of the South African Kaffir, and maize 

 has become an important item in the diet of the white population, so 

 that a good local market already exists. It is estimated that with 

 improved methods of cultivation the Transvaal alone should be able 

 to produce, without difficulty, some 35,000,000 muids a year, which 

 would give a substantial margin for export purposes. 



As Government Agrostologist and Botanist in the Union of South 

 Africa Department of Agriculture, the author has had much to do 

 with the breeding and improvement of maize varieties, of which a 

 large number exist, and also with the judging of samples shown at 

 exhibitions, and the information he gives relating to these aspects of 

 the subject will be found of great interest and of wide application. 

 The cultivation, marketing, and miUing of maize are fully dealt with, 

 as are also the preservation and use of maize stover, hay, and silage as 

 stock foods. The use of maize products in the arts and manufactures 

 provides material for an interesting chapter with which the book 

 concludes. Amongst other manufactures and products derived from 

 the maize plant, mention is made of starch, glucose, dextrine, corn- 

 oil, glycerine, sugar, alcohol, cellulose, rubber filler, paper, mats, hats, 

 charcoal, tobacco-pipes, fire-hghters, gunpowder, and medicines. 



Appended to the volume is a very full and valuable bibhography, 

 and a useful index. 



The work is dedicated to General Botha, Prime Minister of the 

 Union of South Africa and Minister for Agriculture, " in appreciation 

 of his efforts to develop the maize industry." 



" Trees and How they Grow." By G. C. Nuttall, B.Sc. lUustrated 

 with 15 autochromes by H. E. Cooke, F.R.P.S., and 186 photographs 

 by the Author. 8vo., 184 pp. (Cassell, London, 1913.) 6s. net. 



The student of our trees and shrubs will find this a most useful 

 book, in that the illustrations and descriptions leave nothing to be 

 desired in the matter of ready recognition. Indeed, amongst the 

 many books that have been pubHshed on the subject we consider 

 the present one of the best, and must congratulate the author on the 

 concise and masterly way he has treated his subject. Twenty-four of 

 our commonly cultivated trees and larger growing shrubs are dealt 

 with, the text being illustrated by about one hundred and fifty beauti- 

 fully executed plates of the various species, which of themselves 



