BOOK. REVIEWS. 
451 
and insect attacks upon plants, with details of the life and behaviour 
of the fungi and insects, &c, concerned. 
The second deals only with a few of the diseases induced by 
insects and fungi on plants of the farm, and is well illustrated. 
Both are reliable, and contain suggestions for remedying or pre- 
venting the recurrence of the trouble dealt with. 
In neither, perhaps, is sufficient attention given to the treatment 
of eelworm-infested soil, probably because we are at present not in 
a position to deal with it effectively except on a restricted area which 
is well under control, as in greenhouses where soil-sterilization may 
be effected. There is probably no more troublesome or costly pest 
than the two species of eelworm, Tylenchus devastatrix and Heterodera 
radicicola, and none is more difficult to deal with. In the former 
book we find gas-lime recommended on more than one occasion for 
this and other soil pests, but, unfortunately for the grower, gas-lime is 
rarely to be obtained now, and even where it is the loss of time involved 
by its use is a serious thing in these days of intensive cultivation. We 
are sorry to see chalk suggested for use against club-root in cabbages, 
turnips, and the like, in the latter book, even though there is a warning 
that it is less good than quicklime, for in our experience it is quite 
valueless when once the soil is badly infested. It is, of course, a useful 
preventive dressing, since it prevents the accumulation of the organic 
acids in the soil which render it so much more favourable for the 
growth of the finger-and-toe organism. 
" The Principles of Plant Culture." By E. S. Goff, revised by 
J. G. Moore and L. R. Jones. Ed. 8. 8vo. xxiii + 295 pp. (Mac- 
millan, New York, 1916.) 5s. 6d. net. 
Nearly twenty years ago the late Professor Goff published " The 
Principles of Plant Culture," the result of his wide experience and 
close insight into the science of plant growth. It has grown to some 
extent in his hands and in those of the revisers, who have included in 
this new edition material of value made available by scientific research 
since its first issue. Professor Goff died in 1902, but the work he 
did has been continued, and the value of his researches has outlived 
his brief span of years. He " combined the qualities of a real investi- 
gator with those of a delightful teacher," and he put the best of his 
powers into the production of this book, which has earned the approba- 
tion of teachers of horticulture (for it was on that side of " plant 
culture " that his interest mainly lay) ever since its first publication. 
Its inclusion among the " Rural Text-books " edited by Prof. L. H. 
Bailey is a guarantee of its worth, even though no such recommenda- 
tion as its long life were to be had, and we have every confidence in 
recommending it to the gardener who wants more than mere rule of 
thumb, and recognizes, as every progressive gardener does, the value 
of a knowledge of the " reason why " operations are performed in 
the way they are. 
