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Soil disinfestation
183
It is difficult to k n o w who the b o o k is written for. It would be inappropriate for undergraduate students as much of the information it contains would be o u t o f date before they graduated. I can only conclude that it has been written for American extension pathologists or American horticulturists and farmers. However, unless it is updated regularly it will be of little use to them in the long term. Despite some deficiencies the b o o k brings together a vast amount of information a b o u t fungicides -- their composition, usages, rates of application, etc., and will serve as a valuable reference for those involved with disease control programmes. J.F. BROWN
(Armidale, N.S. W., Australia)
SOIL DISINFESTATION
Soil Disinfestation. D. Mulder (Editor). Elsevier, A m s t e r d a m / O x f o r d / N e w York, 1979. 368 pp. Dfl. 190.00/ US$ 80.75, ISBN 0-444-41692-7. With the great expansion in recent years of literature dealing with soil disinfestation, a b o o k that sifts the accumulated knowledge and synthesizes into concepts the multifarious biological interactions involving the soil and plant growth is a welcome addition to the panoply of the agricultural scientist. Not intended for him alone, however, "Soil Disinfestation" should also appeal to a wide circle of growers o f many types o f crops. The various authors look at soil disinfestation in the most inclusive manner. In addition to direct disinfestation by chemicals and heat, they embrace natural disinfestation processes as well as those furthered b y man, with individual chapters touching on cultural disease control, disease-resistant rootstocks and cultivars, crop rotations, and soil amendments. Diverse biotic infestations of agricultural softs that lower productivity and product quality and are not overcome b y fertilizer applications are also treated. Limitations of present knowledge basic to predicting the effectiveness of soil-disinfecting practices, boiling d o w n largely to gaps in methodology of measuring inoculum potential, are clearly outlined. Simulating modeling is discussed in detail as a potential sound basis for such predictions. However, complex equations o f fumigant behavior in the soil not withstanding, there are still deficiencies in knowledge, especially o f h o w rapidly various fungi are killed in the soil b y the principal fumigants. In recognition o f the various concepts of inoculum potential that are held b y plant pathologists dealing with root infections, resistant cultivars, being potential marginal hosts, are treated in relation to inoculum behavior.
184 The chapters on flooding of soil, soil pasteurization, the fate of fumigants in soil, and the effect of fumigants on the biology of the soil admirably blend technical with applied knowledge and reflect perspectives and breadth of experience of the authors. The dangers involved in the handling of soil-fumigating chemicals are carefully detailed. Final chapters deal with the fate of fumigants in the environment, a subject of little interest two decades ago, but now of world concern. Methyl bromide, one of the most widely used fumigant chemicals in agriculture, has justly received intensive treatment. The literature references, given with full titles at the end of each chapter, span the modern era of soil fumigation; even by themselves, they constitute an invaluable resource. STEPHEN WILHELM (Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.)
It is difficult to k n o w who the b o o k is written for. It would be inappropriate for undergraduate students as much of the information it contains would be o u t o f date before they graduated. I can only conclude that it has been written for American extension pathologists or American horticulturists and farmers. However, unless it is updated regularly it will be of little use to them in the long term. Despite some deficiencies the b o o k brings together a vast amount of information a b o u t fungicides -- their composition, usages, rates of application, etc., and will serve as a valuable reference for those involved with disease control programmes. J.F. BROWN
(Armidale, N.S. W., Australia)
SOIL DISINFESTATION
Soil Disinfestation. D. Mulder (Editor). Elsevier, A m s t e r d a m / O x f o r d / N e w York, 1979. 368 pp. Dfl. 190.00/ US$ 80.75, ISBN 0-444-41692-7. With the great expansion in recent years of literature dealing with soil disinfestation, a b o o k that sifts the accumulated knowledge and synthesizes into concepts the multifarious biological interactions involving the soil and plant growth is a welcome addition to the panoply of the agricultural scientist. Not intended for him alone, however, "Soil Disinfestation" should also appeal to a wide circle of growers o f many types o f crops. The various authors look at soil disinfestation in the most inclusive manner. In addition to direct disinfestation by chemicals and heat, they embrace natural disinfestation processes as well as those furthered b y man, with individual chapters touching on cultural disease control, disease-resistant rootstocks and cultivars, crop rotations, and soil amendments. Diverse biotic infestations of agricultural softs that lower productivity and product quality and are not overcome b y fertilizer applications are also treated. Limitations of present knowledge basic to predicting the effectiveness of soil-disinfecting practices, boiling d o w n largely to gaps in methodology of measuring inoculum potential, are clearly outlined. Simulating modeling is discussed in detail as a potential sound basis for such predictions. However, complex equations o f fumigant behavior in the soil not withstanding, there are still deficiencies in knowledge, especially o f h o w rapidly various fungi are killed in the soil b y the principal fumigants. In recognition o f the various concepts of inoculum potential that are held b y plant pathologists dealing with root infections, resistant cultivars, being potential marginal hosts, are treated in relation to inoculum behavior.
184 The chapters on flooding of soil, soil pasteurization, the fate of fumigants in soil, and the effect of fumigants on the biology of the soil admirably blend technical with applied knowledge and reflect perspectives and breadth of experience of the authors. The dangers involved in the handling of soil-fumigating chemicals are carefully detailed. Final chapters deal with the fate of fumigants in the environment, a subject of little interest two decades ago, but now of world concern. Methyl bromide, one of the most widely used fumigant chemicals in agriculture, has justly received intensive treatment. The literature references, given with full titles at the end of each chapter, span the modern era of soil fumigation; even by themselves, they constitute an invaluable resource. STEPHEN WILHELM (Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.)