... Pioneers of Fertility, by Grichton Porteous (Fertiliser Journal t-ia., 110, cannon street, 1. on clou, E.C. 4; ios.). Devoting only five or six pages to each man, the author has succeeded in presenting a pic ture of the life-work of twenty-two of the greatest men in agriculture, from Fitzherbert of Norbury, whose Bohe of Husbandry was published in 1523, to Robert H. Elliot, who died in 191 4. ...

... Birds in Britain, by Frances Pitt Macmillan and Co. 25 s.). Books on birds, as Miss Pitt admits in her preface, are legion, but as she has the happy gift of imparting natural history knowledge to the amateur in far more readable form than most, room will undoubtedly be found for this work on many a shelf. In addition to information on the species, there are chapters on the bird's place in ...

... Fruit Farming,. Young Farmers' GluD LSooklet no. 21, puDiisned Dy Evans Brothers Ltd. at is. 6 d. This does not seem quite up to the stan dard of the pre-war handbooks of the series. The trouble is that to try to cover in 48 pages fruit- farming from suitable soils to methods of grading and storing is attempting too much to be really helpful. It seems that this subject might have been dealt ...

... The Ballet Annual (Third Issue), edited by Arnold L. Haskell (A. and C. Black 21 s.). This is a very worthy record and year book of the ballet. Mr. Haskell gives a detailed account of perform ances in London, his critical notes being lavishly illustrated with photographic studies and sketches. Following the diary there are some specialist notes on particular aspects of ballet we are given four ...

... The Jacaranda Tree, by H. E. Bates (Michael Joseph gs. 6 d.). Without beginning and without ending this is a description of what happened to two car-loads of people fleeing to India from Burma before the Japanese armies. Though the telling has that Bates' brilliance which makes you read to the finish, however late the hour, there is too much of his previous Purple Plain to make this story ...

... Equestrian Sports. (Issued by the British Horse Society is.) The booklet will prove most useful, not only to all Pony Club branches, but to all riding clubs or groups of riders. It contains the rules of Polo Crosse (interest in which was revived in this country by the publication in Sport Countrv of pictures of the game being played in Australia), Cushion Polo, Paddock Polo, a summary of the ...

... Staffordshire. bv Phil Drabble (Robert Hale 15s.). Unless one is a native of this county or has visited it, the name probably sum mons up visions of the Potteries or Arnold Bennett's five towns. The author himself says Folk do not come to Staffordshire for amuse ment nor to satisfy their aesthetic appetites pretty spots are the ex ception. They come, as a rule, to earn a living, for it is ...

... Lawns and Sports Grounds. A new edition, the sixteenth, of the handbook by Sutton's, the turf specialists of Reading, is now out. Here in a comparatively few excellently illustrated pages is gathered together all the informa tion required to make and keep a lawn of quality, or a sports ground that satisfies the players. Pro bably the chapters of most interest will be those on the destruction ...

... Turf, by I. G. Lewis (Faber and Faber 12 s. 6 d.). The author was trained at Aberystwyth under Sir George Stapledon and for twenty years has made grass his study. As a consultant he has helped to solve many of the problems of sports clubs, particularly those left by the war, when golf courses ceased to be tank training grounds and playing fields drilling grounds. Thouglr this book deals ...

... Tractor Ploughing. This re vised edition of the National In stitute of Agricultural Engineering's booklet of 1944 is an example of the almost perfect handbook. If you want to plough or employ a ploughman, get a copy even get a copy if you just like seeing the countryside, for the ploughed fields will have a new meaning after you have seen this little book. (From the N.I.A.E., Wrest Park, ...

... Swiss Winter, by F. S. Sniythe (A. and C. Black; 30 s.). Mr. Smythe gives us yet another col lection of fine Alpine pictures, nearly fifty in black and white and eight in colour, each picture being captioned with intimate details of the Swiss scene, the descriptions showing the author's great know ledge of the country and mastery of the art of photography. In an introductory essay Mr. Smythe ...

... Where to Fish. The compiling of a new and completely up-to-date Field guide to fishing in the rivers and lakes of England, Wales, Scot land and Ireland must have been a formidable task after ten years, but the editor, William G. Lus- combe, has succeeded magnificently. Besides the British Isles, the book covers fishing in America, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Some most excellent ...