THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 149 



far as the reviewer can discover, the division of the contents 

 into weeks is largely to provide convenient pegs to •hang- 

 various valuable observations upon. These range all the 

 way from tools and labels, to laying out roads, grading 

 lawns, irrigating, building greenhouses, caring for house- 

 plants, and nearly everything else upon which the beginning 

 gardener is likely to need advice. There are 350 pages and 

 51 plates in the book. It is published by the Macmillan 

 Company and costs $1.75. 



Harriet L. Keeler's new book, "The Wayside Flowers 

 of Summer", is similar in style to "Our Early Wildflowers" 

 issued last year and evidently a companion volume. It 

 treats of the more conspicuous summer flowers under the 

 headings; roots, stems, leaves, flowers, calyx, corolla, sta- 

 mens, pistils, and fruit, and follows this with the items of 

 popular interest which we have come to expect in flower 

 books of this kind. There are many illustrations in the 

 text as well as a number of full page plates, some of which 

 are in color. The text is well done and the illustrations 

 good, in fact it is in the author's characteristic manner 

 which has become so well known that to say it is another 

 Keeler book exactly describes it for a large number of 

 readers. It is published by Charles Scribrier's Sons at 

 $1.65 net. 



The task of the reviewer is often a thankless one. He 

 owes a service to both readers and author, and unless he is 

 constantly and squarely on the job, the interests of one or 

 the other are likely to suffer. There recently passed away 

 a botanist who in his time reviewed many books in the pub- 

 lic prints but who was so kindly disposed toward all sincere 

 attempts at helpful book-making that he could not bring 

 his pen to condemn any of them and, as a result, his observa- 

 tions could not be relied upon in selecting volumes for one's 

 own library. There are times, however, when no praise is 



