February issue includes Appendix entitled Directory of United States Government periodicals and subscription publications; September issue includes List of depository libraries; June and December issues include semiannual index

It was in late 2002 that the idea of preparing a collection of multi-authored chapters on different aspects of ag- st forestry as a compendium for the 1 World Congress of Agroforestry, June 2004, was tossed around. With the approval of the idea by the Congress Organizing Committee, serious efforts to make it a reality got under way in early 2003. The rigorously peer-reviewed and edited manuscripts were submitted to the publisher in December 2003. Considering the many differentindividualsinvolved in the task as authors and manuscriptreviewers, we feel quite pleased that the task could be accomplished within this timeframe. We are pleased also about the contents on several counts. First of all, the tropical-temperate mix of topics is a rare feature of a publication of this nature. In spite of the scienti?c commonalities between tropical and temperate practices of agroforestry, the differences between them are so enormous that it is often impossible to mesh them together in one publication. Secondly, several of the chapters are on topics that have not been discussed or described much in agroforestryliterature. A third feature is that some of the authors, though well known in their own disciplinary areas, are somewhat new to agroforestry; the perceptions and outlooks of these scholars who are relatively unin?uenced by the past happenings in agroforestry gives a whole new dimension to agroforestry and broadensthescopeofthesubject. Finally, ratherthanjustreviewingandsummarizingpastwork,mostchapterstake the extra effort in attempting to outline the next steps.

Evolution of the Alabama Agroecosystem describes aspects of food and fiber production from prehistoric to modern times. Using information and perspectives from both the "hard" sciences (geology, biology) and the "soft" science (sociology, history, economics, politics), it traces agriculture's evolution from its appearance in the Old World to its establishment in the New World. It discusses how agricultural practices originating in Europe, Asia and Africa determined the path agriculture followed as it developed in the Americas. The book focuses on changes in US and Alabama agriculture since the early nineteenth century and the effects that increased government involvement have had on the country's agricultural development. Material presented explains why agriculture in Alabama and much of the South remains only marginally competitive compared to many other states, the role that limited agricultural competitiveness played in the slower rate of economic development in the South in general, and how those limiting factors ensure that agricultural development in Alabama and the South will continue to keep up but never catch up.