86 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



fore laying it aside. The title of the book is "Life; a book 

 for Elementary Students". It has 200 pages and many il- 

 lustrations and costs $2.50. It is published by the Macmil- 

 lan Co. 



And here is a new issue of the "Garden of a Commuter's 

 Wife" making nineteen in all, if we have reckoned correctly. 

 The book first appeared, anonymously in 1901 and has proved 

 itself a hardy perennial, indeed. It is not to be supposed that 

 this is a literal guide to the cultivation of flowers and vegeta- 

 bles. Books of that kind do not have any such popularity. 

 As a matter of fact, a better title for the book would have 

 been "Fruits from the Garden of a Commuter's Wife" for its 

 charm consists in the delightful narrative of the experiences 

 which the author, Mabel Osgood Wright, makes the commu- 

 ter's wife give of her attempts at renovating an old garden 

 in Connecticut. A thread of plot runs through the book, 

 concerned with the doings of the Commuter, the physician 

 father, Mrs. Corkle, the Schmidts and various others. There 

 is not enough plot to warrant the book's being described as 

 a novel nor enough gardening to place it among horticultural 

 works, but the mixture of the two is possibly more attractive 

 than either would be alone. This is a book for the seasoned 

 gardener rather than for the novice, but if the latter will use 

 his mind as well as his hands he may work up to it in time. 

 Perhaps he would do well to read it now, anyhow, just for 

 the suggestions it gives of what may be gotten out of a gar- 

 den besides flowers and foods. The book is from the Mac- 

 mmillan Press and is well printed. Somebody, however, 

 should tell the printer that generic names of plants always 

 begin with a capital. And how the book could go through 

 nineteen editions and escape being called to account for its 

 statement that \'alentine's day comes on Feb. 15, is beyond 



