deli AsUsU BONS bases he lelN 33 
ment with what Interior Secrtary Udall called the ‘total-environment 
concept of conservation.’ ” 
Mr. Graham’s book is an excellent contribution to literature on pesti- 
cides. It would be difficult to find anything of importance on the subject 
that he has left out and he has told it all succinctly. 
Slow though it may be, it is obvious from this book that the movement 
of the use of pesticides is forward—in the direction pointed out by the 
far-seeing author of ‘Silent Spring.” 
There are three valuable appendices to the book: an article on “Safer 
Pesticides for Home and Garden,” by Shirley Briggs, plus a list of common, 
chemical and trade names of pesticides; the “Federal Registration Re- 
quirements for Pesticide Products,’ by Harold G. Alford; and “In 
Memoriam” which tells about the Rachel Carson Trust, the Rachel Carson 
Seacoast Fund and the Rachel Carson Memorial Fund, administered by 
the National Audubon Society. It is this latter Fund that has contributed 
considerable financial support to the Environmental Defense Fund, which 
has been active in bringing court action concerning pesticide use. 
—Mrs. Arthur M. Jens, Jr. 
IAS Pesticide Committee Chairman 
BOTANY. Golden Science Guide. Alexander, Burnett and Zim. 
Golden Press, Western Publishing Co. 850 Third Ave., New York 10022. 
1970. 160 pages. $1.25. 
The Golden Guides have won immense popularity ever since their first 
appearance several years ago. The volume on Botany, just published, will 
win wide favor among school students and backyard botanists. It has the 
usual excellent illustrations. 
The paperback covers such areas as plant nutrition, reproduction, 
genetics, evolution and plants and their environment. I read the book 
around Christmastime, and was interested to learn a note about poinsettias: 
they are short-day species which have a 12-hour critical day length. Their 
flowering comes only when they have light for less than 12 hours. 
The complex plant kingdom is made a bit easier to understand with 
this useful paperback. 
—Mrs. I. L. Mostek 
OWLS. THEIR NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY. 
By John Sparks and Tony Soper. 
Taplinger Publishing Co. 29 East 10th St., New York 10003. $5.95. 
1970. 206 pages. Printed in Great Britain. 
Few birds are more fascinating than the owl. He is fast, mysterious, at- 
tractive, and useful. Over 76 percent of the food of the owl are rats and 
mice. There are two families of owls—the barn owls and the typical owls. 
Suprisingly, there are ten species of barn owls. All hawks and owls are 
protected in Illinois, an action initiated by the Illinois Audubon Society 
in 1956. (The National Audubon Society has called for federal protection 
of hawks and owls. Some observers of the state scene feel it is now in- 
cumbent upon the IAS leadership to close the gaps in the Illinois law.) 
