206 The Plant World. 



field of botany. The second alternative is evidently the one ap- 

 proved and used by Prof. Schaffner, and when supplemented by 

 lectures, such a course as he has outlined will without doubt leave 

 the student with a fairly comprehensive view of plant relation- 

 ship. It should also leave him with a profound sense that what 

 he has accomplished is only a beginning. For this, the teacher 

 must in great measure be responsible. The Outlines seem to be 

 a very successful attempt to furnish practical directions which 

 can be utilized by the student at first hand. 



"Our Garden Flowers" is the title of a new and interesting 

 book on the commoner garden plants, from the press of Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. The book has five hundred and fifty pages, including 

 an index and brief glossary and costs $2.00. The press work 

 throughout is excellent, and the book is well illustrated. It 

 treats of plant varieties adapted for growing in the eastern half 

 of the United States. The author of the work certainly has a 

 rare acquaintance with plants and has shown herself to be a close 

 observer of them. This work will prove valuable not only to 

 the florist and amateur gardener, but to all others interested 

 in flowers. It is deserving of a large sale, which it will un- 

 doubtedly have. To read it is to become interested in the sub- 

 ject of flowers. 



It contains an excellent index of the common and scientific 

 names of the plants of the numerous families, and in the treat- 

 ment of its species a brief popular description is given after which 

 the nativity, history and the more important features of the plant 

 are touched upon in a very entertaining manner. It is to be 

 hoped that the author will prepare a similar work for the plants 

 of the western half of our country. 



In the reviewer's opinion such plants as the parsnip, horse 

 radish, spinach, field turnips, black and white mustard and 

 cultivated beets, might well have been excluded, since they are 

 plants but not flowers, or else the title of the book should have 

 been changed to read "Our Garden Plants." 



