Abstract
THIS little book is very clearly and pleasantly written. It contains much valuable practical information respecting garden soils, the use of artificial manures in horticulture, the preparation and application of effective fungicides and insecticides, and various other matters. The book is designed for the use of persons who have not received a scientific education, and we should think it will exactly meet their wants; there is, however, much in it that will well repay the perusal of a higher class of readers. There are a few minor points which seem open to criticism. “Pod-plants” is not a good distinctive name for the papilionaceæ, as the cruciferæ are also podded. The popular use of the word “germ,” as descriptive of certain races of living beings, should surely be discouraged as fundamentally incorrect. Nor is there any advantage gained by speaking of “muriate of potash,” though the term still lingers in commerce. If a person who knows nothing is to be taught, it is surely needless to burden him with archaisms which he must unlearn if his education proceeds any further. Agricultural chemists will, we think, demur to the same valuation being applied to the nitrogen of ammonia and to the nitrogen of insoluble organic manures.
The Chemistry of the Garden: a Primer for Amateurs and Young Gardeners.
By Herbert H. Cousins Pp. xv + 141. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1898.)
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W., R. The Chemistry of the Garden: a Primer for Amateurs and Young Gardeners. Nature 57, 463 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/057463a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/057463a0