THE GROWING OF VEGETABLES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17258, 6 September 1919, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE GROWING OF VEGETABLES.

V* ickson's reputation is world-wide a<? a grower of raits and as an instructor to other growers. His book on ' California Vegetables "—{Pacific Rural Press, Sail Francisco) one that claims the attention of every good gardener. Written for California conditions, the knowledge within its pages is yet of great value to growers in other parts of the world. Ha contends that " Will, Work, end Water can accomplish marvels npon aim any soiL from a brickyard to a desert. City j people have grown their table supplies on [ housetops; no rurafist can find & les*: proj dnctive subsoil." He writes a very informing chapter on the various method* of irrigation, others on cultivation, and then passes on to detail the favoured nrf-uhods of dealing -with special vegetables. His is & most instructive volume.

G ENSEAL LITERATURE. " The Sword of Deborah "by P. Tennyson Jesse (Heinemann, London).-— The author went to France to personally Inspect the work dons by the British women's organisation at tie front. Going, with prejudice—indeed, with boredom-— she left with unbounded admiration for the women, of every class, who washed dishes, and scrubbed, and swept, who replaced men, and who did it thoroughly; who drove in all weathers, night and day, sometimes for a week or more on end; who faced hardships — unspectacular workers, who were part of war, and daily and nightly strengthened the hands of the fighters.

" Khaki and Cassock "—by Kenneth T. Henderson (Melville and Mullen, Melbourne). — is the writing of an Australian, who was chaplain to the 12th Infantry Brigade and Ist A.nzac Corps Troops in France. The sketches cover ever two years of personal experiences with the troops, and were written while the anther was on sick leave. His intimate relations with the men and his efforts for them are very feelingly brought out in his art' las. On® is certainly struck in his boob, as in those of other chaplains, with the tremendous difficulty that the padres had in satisfying the questioning side of such of theio men who cursed things, and expected the poor padre to explain them satisfactorily. It was evidently not easy, at the front, to be the representative of things spiritual. Mr. Henderson has sense of the graphic and of the humorous, and these help him to write a very interesting bcok. The excellent illustrations aro by Bombardier M. N. Waller.

" A Servant of Reality," by Phyllis Bottoms (Rodder, Stoughton, London). —A delightful novel, introducing a doctor suffering from the nerve effects of imprisonment in Germany. Invited by his sister to stay with her and meet a quiet girl, ha might have proposed marriage to this sensible, soothing young woman, had not Kitty Costrelle suddenly appeared on the scene. Kitty had pretty frocks, and alluring ways. She flirted deliberately, and was "cut" by the neighbouring women. Her behaviour invited comment;: but Anthony Arden was quite bewitched. When he wanted to marry her she refused him, hinting that her morality was far from good. He knew that aha had been devoted to Dick, who was killed in the early day a of war; knew, too, thai she had ruined her health by overwork as a motor-driver. It was difficult to balance this with the woman who risked her social reputation every dr.y by defiant conduct. But she forced him to believe her. Later he met her in London, and detected what he hid suspected before, signs of distressing illness. Confirming this, end persuading her to agree to an operation, ne married Kitty, realising now the meaning of her statement, that she was not fit to marry any man." But Kitty, whose pluck and sweetness has won our hearts, is doomed, and the story ends with sadness. The character analysis in this novel is excellent; its author can penetrate deep into the mind and heart. Her revelation of Anthony's changed soul is very skilled; she pluvs backward and forward, first on the effects from his imprisonment, then on the further developmer.i arising from his love. And Kitty, a hit of dust dancing in the sunlight," is very captivating ana real. " A Servant of Reality" is truly pleasurable reading.

" The Home and the World " —by Rabindranath Tagore (Macmillan, London) — perhaps the most modern in tone of the great author's books. It is very human—the happy wife, the visitors with a mission and an influence which undermines her allegiance to her husband. The methods used, flattery and so forth, are just what would be used in real life. And when, having brought a hornet's nest about his ears by inciting national unrest, having also appropriated "cause' ' moneys, the visitor is induced to move on, there ,9 tragedy The mob attacks; .Nikhii, the husband, is badly injured, and an innocent lovable youth is killed outright, while the visitor, Somdip, flees for his life. " workshop Hints for Metal Workers,'* by Bernard Jones—(Casscll, London).-A technical study of the crs.ft of metal work, with illustrations of all the appropriate machinery and tools.