_A Son of the Middle Border_, by Hamlin Garland, published by the Macmillan Company of New York, is a narrative of unusual interest to Wisconsin readers. In it the author tells the story of his early life, first on a “coulee” farm in western Wisconsin, later as an emigrant (with his parents) successively to northern Iowa and the Dakotas. Many of those of maturer years who read the book will find depicted in it with extraordinary clearness scenes and conditions of a life, now largely vanished, which they themselves have shared in earlier years. A survey made by the United States Department of Agriculture in December, 1916, on the number of silos in this country shows that Wisconsin leads all other states in the Union. Out of a grand total of 333,160, Wisconsin had 55,992. New York was second with 42,846. The past year saw several thousand more silos constructed in Wisconsin, and the Agricultural Department of the State Council of Defense estimates the number will now reach 60,000. The average capacity of Wisconsin silos is 120 tons, while those of New York average but 62 tons. The State Historical Society of Iowa has begun the publication of a series of pamphlets issued under the general caption _Iowa and War_. The object of the Society is “to present in attractive form a series of small pamphlets dealing with a variety of subjects relating to interesting matters connected with the history of Iowa.” Volume I, number 1, published in July is devoted to an account of “Old Fort Snelling” by Marcus L. Hansen. Old Fort Snelling belongs to the Upper Mississippi Valley in general and Mr. Hansen’s account of it should possess as much interest for citizens of Wisconsin as for those of Iowa. “Enlistments from Iowa during the Civil War,” by John E. Biggs is published in No. 2 for August. No. 3, for September, contains an account of “The Iowa Civil War Loan,” written by Ivan L. Pollock. Since the declaration of war by the United States upon Germany, the study of military history in this country has practically monopolized the attention of historical investigators. The leading article in the _Iowa Journal of History and Politics_ for July, 1917, deals with “Enlistments during the Civil War.” Like Wisconsin and other northern states, Iowa found herself utterly unprepared for a war. The writer states that at the beginning of the conflict in 1861, there was not a single unit of the regular army in Iowa, nor were there any forts or garrisons. There was not a military post in the state and the nearest arsenal was in St. Louis. A discussion of the draft and its administration in Iowa forms a valuable part of the study.