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228 been developed and do not respond much to PGR's relative to control of assimilate distribution. Growers of crop plants generally prefer genetic control by endogenous PGR's as a safer and cheaper alternative, especially on large hecterage of low value production. Growth and development are controlled by PGR's, nevertheless, Simply there may be no need for an exogenous source of PGR's. This book will have a great deal of usefulness and value to the crop scientist and agronomist to enhance understanding of the roles of PGR's in growth and development and to point up opportunities for manipulation when desired. The collective wisdom of 75 authorities on a subject is com- pelling from almost any perspective. F.P. GARDNER Agronomy Department Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences 304 Newell Hall University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 U.S.A. SIMULATION OF GROWTH AND PRODUCTION Simulation of Plant Growth and Crop Production. F.W.T. Penning de Vries and H.H. van Laar (Editors). Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1982. 308 pp., paperback, Dfl. 65.00. ISBN 90-220- 080906. This monograph, as it is referred to by the editors, is the synthesis of lectures comprising an advanced international course and summarizes mod- eling accomplishments of several research programs centered in Wageningen, The Netherlands. The monograph, intended as an introduction to systems analyses of crop production, begins with introductory remarks concerning basic concepts of flow charting, definitions of terminology, and modeling philosophy. Model validation, evaluation, sensitivity analyses, and time step; topics often overlooked, are addressed at the outset, albeit super- ficially. The reader is next introduced to the simulation language CSMP (Continuous Simulation Modeling Program), the modeling language used to describe functional relationships, in all except the last two chapters. With CSMP tools in hand, the reader is then introduced to a simple model for calculating potential crop production when water and plant nutrients are not limiting factors. The simple model is then used to lead the reader to the more complex models and situations wherein water, nutrients, and/or other elements limit crop production. Lastly, modeling crop growth and development interactions with diseases and pests are considered.

Simulation of plant growth and crop production

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228

been developed and do not respond much to PGR's relative to control of assimilate distribution. Growers of crop plants generally prefer genetic control by endogenous PGR's as a safer and cheaper alternative, especially on large hecterage of low value production. Growth and development are controlled by PGR's, nevertheless, Simply there may be no need for an exogenous source of PGR's.

This book will have a great deal of usefulness and value to the crop scientist and agronomist to enhance understanding of the roles of PGR's in growth and development and to point up opportunities for manipulation when desired. The collective wisdom of 75 authorities on a subject is com- pelling from almost any perspective.

F.P. GARDNER Agronomy Department

Institute o f Food and Agricultural Sciences 304 Newell Hall

University o f Florida Gainesville, FL 32611

U.S.A.

SIMULATION OF GROWTH AND PRODUCTION

Simulation o f Plant Growth and Crop Production. F.W.T. Penning de Vries and H.H. van Laar (Editors). Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1982. 308 pp., paperback, Dfl. 65.00. ISBN 90-220- 080906.

This monograph, as it is referred to by the editors, is the synthesis of lectures comprising an advanced international course and summarizes mod- eling accomplishments of several research programs centered in Wageningen, The Netherlands. The monograph, intended as an introduction to systems analyses of crop production, begins with introductory remarks concerning basic concepts of flow charting, definitions of terminology, and modeling philosophy. Model validation, evaluation, sensitivity analyses, and time step; topics often overlooked, are addressed at the outset, albeit super- ficially. The reader is next introduced to the simulation language CSMP (Continuous Simulation Modeling Program), the modeling language used to describe functional relationships, in all except the last two chapters. With CSMP tools in hand, the reader is then introduced to a simple model for calculating potential crop production when water and plant nutrients are not limiting factors. The simple model is then used to lead the reader to the more complex models and situations wherein water, nutrients, and/or other elements limit crop production. Lastly, modeling crop growth and development interactions with diseases and pests are considered.

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The monograph not only succeeds in presenting a logical and balanced systems approach to crop modeling for the uninitiated, but has substance worthy of consideration by researchers and others interested in the topic. The authors not only present several modeling options for describing crop growth and development, but often demonstrate through example the consequences and constraints of each option. The authors are forthright in presenting modeling assumptions, limitations, alternative approaches and applications. Of special value is the reference section which contains cita- tions to relevant related literature not likely to be found easily.

Although justified by the authors as simplifying programing, the use of CSMP restricts the utility of this monograph for those not inclined to concern themselves with another computer language. Adequate CSMP tutelage, however, is provided to enable the reader to progress through the ensuing chapters and many demonstrative exercises.

Crop modeling activity other than at Wageningen is infrequently re- ferred to; and hence, the monograph's narrow focus inadequately presents a clear panoramic view of crop modeling research activity on a whole. How- ever, as a companion to several other recent texts on the subject, this mono- graph is a worthwhile library addition. Simulation of plant growth and crop production is portrayed as offering a useful research tool, a potentially useful farming tool, and a challenge to improve quantitative description of crop growth and development processes. The challenge, evident throughout the monograph, is underscored by one of the authors when, after describing the influence of nitrogen deficiency on processes related to plant growth and production, he concludes in surprise that relevant quantitative descrip- tions are lacking more than 125 years after the work of Von Liebig.

GERALD F. ARKIN Blackland Research Center

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Post Office Box 748

Temple, TX 76503 U.S.A.

GROWTH, FORM AND COMPOSITION OF POTATO AND ENVIRONMENT

Growth, Form and Composition o f Potato Plants as Affected by Environ- ment. F.C. Steward, Ulises Moreno and W.M. Roca. Academic Press, London, 1982, 45 pp., £5.80 (U.K. only)/$12.00. ISBN 0-12-670380-9.

This reprint of the second supplement to the Annals o f Botany, Volume 48, 1981, presents a case history that shows how certain plants react, during development, to their environment. It describes a study of the morphogen- esis and differentiation of buds on shoots and stolons of clones of the