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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



the raw materials employed by tHe manufacturer is often astonishing. 

 This is probably due to the lack of books on th'e subject that are at once 

 reliable and not too technical. The serial publication under notice, 

 which is to be issued in twelve parts, is intended to supply the demand 

 for a work dealing with economic plants and their products, which 

 enter the international markets of the world. Part I. is concerned with 

 the principal cereal crops, i.e., wheat, barley, rye, oats, and rice. 

 The importance of this group of plants may be gathered from the fact 

 that the annual value of wheat alone imported into the United 

 Kingdom reaches the enormous total of £35,000,000. Some 

 account of the history and the different forms of wheat is given in the 

 chapter devoted to this subject, together with the methods of cultiva- 

 tion in different countries. Such primitive methods as sowing broad- 

 cast and reaping with sickle or scythe are described and compared with 

 the expeditious methods adopted in the Far West, where the latest 

 mechanical appliances that the wit of man can devise are employed to 

 reduce the amount of human labour required to raise the crop. Barley, 

 oats, and rye are also important cereals, but in this respect do not 

 compare with rice, which, in Eastern countries, holds a place even 

 more important than that of wheat in Western lands, being, in fact, the 

 staple food of about one-half the whole population of the earth. The 

 descriptions and illustrations of the cultivation and preparation of rice 

 are not so familiar to western readers as are those dealing with the other 

 cereals mentioned. Machinery is employed in but few countries where 

 it is grown, with the exception of the Southern States of North 

 America, and most of the methods adopted are of the most primitive 

 character. The numerous illustrations, which are reproductions of 

 photographs, add considerably to the value of the work, as do also the 

 outline maps indicating the principal producing areas. To the general 

 reader as well as to those engaged in tutorial work this book promises to 

 be of great interest and value. 



Part II. continues the article on rice and contains an account of 

 maize and the various cereals and forage grasses known as millets. 

 Many of the seeds of the last-named groups of plants are familiar as bird 

 seeds in this country, but their importance in the East as a food for 

 human consumption is by no means fully appreciated. Maize or 

 Indian corn is a very important cereal, the two principal countries 

 concerned in cultivating it as an export crop being the United States 

 and Argentina. In the last-named country it is estimated that some 

 5,000,000 acres are under maize cultivation. Everyone is familiar 

 with the maize grain, but maize-oil obtained from the germ is seldom 

 met with in this country, although in the United States it serves as a 

 table-oil and is also used in soap-making. The maize-leaf cigarette 

 wrappers which are frequently seen in London shops are prepared from 

 the inner leaves which enwrap the maize cobs. 



Part III. contains an account of starch- and sugar-yielding plants. 

 Starches derived from the potato, Manihot roots (Cassava and tapioca), 



