1873.] GARDEN LITEEATUEE. 17 



seed may witli equal safety he sown in tlie oj^en air early in April, and thus treated 

 it will only be somewLat later in coming into flower. — P. Geieve, Cidford. 



GARDEN LITERATURE. 



JRNATE in character, Mr. Hibberd's profusely illustrated book, The Ivy,* 

 makes its appeai'ance opportunely as to season, and we give it a hearty New 

 Year's welcome. The Ivy has become a most important decorative plant, 

 not only as regards the extent to which some or other of its forms are 

 made use of, but also in reference to the great number of beautiful varieties which 

 it now offers to our choice — some bold and rampant, adapted to screen unsightly 

 objects, others picturesque in foliage, in habit, or in colour, and adapted to 

 decorate exterior wall surfaces to which hardy evergreens may be attached. A 

 history of the Ivy as a garden plant, was, therefore, likely to be useful and at- 

 tractive, independently of any literary merits it might possess, and such we find the 

 book before us to be. The historical and literary memoranda supply pleasant 

 reading for leisure intervals ; the discourses on the characteristics and uses of 

 the plant point out how it may be utilised ; directions for cultivation form an 

 appropriate interlude to a chapter on the species and varieties of Ivy, which is 

 itself followed by a freely illustrated descriptive list of Garden Ivies ; the volume 

 closing with selections of the most distinct and beautiful kinds. The oul}- 

 important point on which we are disposed to disagree with the author, is his 

 rechristening of most, or all, of the kinds — and we do this upon principle. With 

 this exception, the work claims our hearty approval ; and whilst its interesting 

 contents will commend it to those who are fond of out-door gardening, and to 

 those who take delight in pleasant reading, its elaborately decorated exterior will 

 secure for it admission into the sanctum sanctonim of both. 



M. Ed. Vianne's Praieies et Pl antes Fouerageees (Rothschild, Paris), is a 

 handsome book, which we notice specially in order to invite attention to the excellent 

 woodcut representations of pasture grasses which it contains. The grasses are a 

 most important family of plants, and by means of these illustrations and the 

 synoptical tables, the more important species may be readily determined. There 

 are also good illustrations of other fodder plants, of poisonous plants, and of 

 pasture weeds. In other respects the work rather addresses itself to the agricul- 

 turist. Considerable space is devoted to irrigation, and woodcut figures of several 

 different kinds of pumps are given. 



M. Bouquet de la Grye has prepared a very useful handbook of Foeestey, oe 

 Sylvioultuee,'!' which is intended to form the first part of a more extended 

 work, entitled Guide du Forestier. The present work treats on the various ques- 

 tions upon which the forester requires information, and is clearly written and to 

 the point. The author holds that the study of the art of forestry in its higher 



* The Ivy : a Monorjraph. By Shirley Hibberd. Illustrated with Coloured Plates and Wood EngraviDgs. 

 London : Groombridge and Sons. 



t Elements cli: Siilviciilfure. Par A. Bouquet de la Grye, Secretaire Qdneral de la Society Forestifere, etc. 

 Soixante-dis Vignettes sur Bois. Sixifeme edition. Paris: J. Kothschild. 1870. 



