246 THE FLORIST. 



in display to many simple flowers which characterise the first advent 

 of spring ; blossoms of all kinds are, however, especially grateful 

 after a long and dreary winter. The Cydonia (Pyrus) japonica 

 blooms when we have little else to charm us ; a week or a fortnight 

 of mild weather, at intervals from December to March, will be enough 

 to tempt a dozen stray blossoms to appear on every plant. 



Evergreens, as the Alaternus, Laurels, or the Garrya elliptica, with 

 its gracefully pendent catkins, form a contrast to the scarlet flowers 

 and leafless branches of the Cydonia, the Amygdalus nana (Dwarf 

 Almond), with its " flowers of rosy hue," the Berberis aquifolium. 

 Rhododendron dauricum atrovirens, Laurustinus, the Ribes sangui- 

 neum, atrorubens, albiflorum, and pleno, with their abundance of 

 showy blossoms, and the double-flowering Peach, are plants to be 

 included for the above-mentioned purpose. These, but more espe- 

 cially the double Ribes sanguineum. Dwarf Almond, Lilacs, and 

 double-flowered Peach, are admirably suited for bouquets. By means 

 of a little forcing, much earlier flowers may be anticipated. For the 

 growth of those shrubs in beds, no stimulants are required, unless 

 the soil is very shallow or inferior, and then a little leaf-mould would 

 be beneficial. 



Hope Nursery y Bedale. C. May. 



REVIEW. 



An Analysis of the British Ferns and their Allies. By G. W. Francis, 

 F.L.S. London, Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 1850. Fourth 

 edition. 



To Mr. Francis belongs the credit of having been the first historian, 

 in modern times, of the Briti:?h Ferns and their allies. The original 

 edition of his Analysis — published, we believe, in 1837 — was, more- 

 over, in advance of the information which prevailed on this subject 

 at that period. From these two circumstances combined, Mr. 

 Francis's book gained considerable popularity, and not undeservingly 

 so ; though, at the same time, it was not free from error, and was 

 illustrated by figures which, in most cases, were much too small to 

 convey correct notions of the plants they were supposed to represent. 

 The second edition (which we have not seen) was improved by the 

 substitution of a fresh set of plates, in which the figures were of 

 larger size, and also by various corrections and additions. In the 

 succeeding editions, we believe, no alterations have been made, not- 

 withstanding that the subject has been much advanced by the labours 

 of Newman, Moore, Deakin, and others, who have subsequently 

 taken up the literature of the Ferns. This "fourth" edition cer- 

 tainly differs from the third only in the date on the title-page ; and 

 the third also would appear from the preface to differ from the second 

 in no other particular. 



The book before us is an octavo of 88 pages, illustrated by nine 

 plates, each containing usually six figures in compartments. There 



