90 THE FLORIST. 



REVIEWS. 



Rendles Price Current and Farm Directory. 



More thrn a hundred pages of sound practical information on farming 

 matters — such is the " Farm Directory," a work that should be read 

 by everybody who has a bit of farming land. From page 10 to 30 is 

 devoted to the history, culture, and uses of all the chief Grasses, 

 Turnips, Mangolds, Clovers, Carrots, &c., used in agriculture, telling 

 us which sorts are best suited to certain soils, and giving just the sort 

 of information a purchaser wants. " A Few Words on growing Carrots 

 from Seed," and forthwith we are told, that " It is not desirable to sow 

 Carrot seeds in the open fields until the temperature of the earth is 

 raised to such a degree as to impart warmth to the soil. If sown too 

 early the weeds will have the ascendancy, and completely smother the 

 tender plants. Before sowing, the seed should be sprouted, by steeping 

 it in moist sand. This will be found to be an excellent plan, but the 

 seed and sand must be very frequently turned, so as to prevent heating. 

 Carrot seed should never be sown in very dry weather, the best time 

 being just after a gentle shower. It should not be put hito the ground 

 until the third week in April or the first week in May." Messrs. Rendle 

 and Co. observe at page 27, with regard to the Lentil {Ervum lens), — 

 " This is of great antiquity as the food of man ; it was in esteem in the 

 days of the patriarchs, and is much prized even at the present day ; it 

 possesses the most nutritious qualities, and the invalid food advertised as 

 ' Revalenta Arabica,' is nothing more than the flour of the Lentil. It 

 is grown to a considerable extent on the Continent, as well as in our 

 own country." If such is the case — and we have no reason to doubt it 

 — it is highly interesting to note that one of our old articles of food, so 

 often named in the Bible, should in the nineteenth century be again 

 found a useful article for food. A few hints on testing guanos and 

 superphosphates follow, together with a " Calendar of Farming Opera- 

 tions for the Year," and various papers on farming subjects, by Mr. 

 J. B. Lawes, and otlier eminent practical men. One of the most inter- 

 esting papers is that on " Capital needed in Agriculture," which will be 

 read with interest. How so much is prepared and published at the 

 small cost of sixpence to the purchaser, is a mystery. 



The Ferns of Great Britain and their Allies, by Thomas Moore, F.L.S- 

 Edited by Dr. Lindley, and Nature-printed by Henry Bradbury. 

 London : Bradbury & Evans. Nos. 5 and 6. 

 We have before noticed this valuable contribution to botanical science 

 at page 279 of our last year's volume, and the favourable opinion we 

 recorded of the numbers then published is fully confirmed by those now 

 under review, which secure to us representations of this interesting 

 group of plants perfectly life-like, and such as no other process could 

 produce. The assistance which Nature-printing is calculated to afford 

 the botanist can scarcely yet be determined ; but, from what has 

 already been effected in the work before us, we venture to say, the 

 time is not far distant when Nature-printing will be the means em- 



