184 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Catalogues Rf.ceived. — " B. S. Williams, 

 Seven Sisters Road, Ilolloway. General 

 Catalogue of New, Beautiful, Rare, and 

 other Plants." This is one of tlie best 

 lists we know, and contains a fine assort- 

 ment of novelties — Petunias, Acliemines, 

 Verbenas, Geraniums, Fuclisias, stc, 

 ■which maj' always be seen in abundance 

 and in excellent condition at this estab- 

 lishment. — " E. Wolff and Son, 23, 

 Church Street, Spltalfields. Solid Ink 

 Pencils." We can recommend these, as 

 Tve have tried them, and find they are 

 ■well adapted for tall.yingplants. Writing 

 done by them on the ordinary painted 

 tallies is of a bright jet black, and cannot 

 be washed off with -ivater, and as the 

 atmosphere and damp do not appear to 

 have any cftVct upon them, they are not 

 likely to become illegible from confervjE 

 or otiier causes. — '"Edwin Cooling, Mile 

 Ash Nurseries, and 18, Iron Gate, Derby. 

 Select List of Ferns, Stove and Green- 

 house Plants, etc." A well-printed cata- 

 logue, -vvith a fine collection of hardy 

 and exotic ferns, and an excellent general 

 list of plants. 

 Books Received. — " The Indoor Gardener. 

 By Miss Maling, author of ' Indoor 

 Plants.' London, Longman and Co." 

 This is Miss Maling's best book, and will 

 . be found of gi-eat service to those who 

 are desirous of growing plants indoors, 

 but are entirely ignorant of the best way 

 to set about it. Here will be found 

 directions for growing and preserving 

 plants in health in the midst of dusty, 

 smoky cities ; minute descriptions of the 

 best kinds of plant cases, and flower 

 casements ; opinions upon the different 

 plants suitable for growing in them, with 

 ample instrueiions fur their management 

 and propagation, besides useful liints 

 upon the judicious arrangement of them 

 for decorating purposes, upon which sub- 

 ject Miss Maling is a valuable autho- 

 rity. Those of our readers who devote 

 their energies to the indoor cultivation 

 of flowers, will be amply repaid for a 

 perusal of the book, and even the general 

 reader ■will find information and advice 

 which is well worth the seeking. — "A 

 Handbook of Vine and Fruit Tree Culti- 

 ■vation, as adapted to Sir Joseph Paxton's 

 Patent Hothouse.^. By Samuel Here- 

 man, 7, Pall Mall East, London. Brad- 

 bury and Evans, 11, Bouverie Street." 

 This is a second edition, in which the 

 reader will find many valuable additions 

 to the text of tlie former work. Mr. 

 Hereman is a thorough master of his 

 subject, and gives his opinions in a 



straightforward, concise, pithy manner, 

 so that we find in liis book a vast deal of 

 desirable information in a small com- 

 pass, as the author comes to the point at 

 once, and never wanders from it. Pax- 

 ton's Patent Plant-houses have acquired 

 such a celebrity, and proved themselves 

 valuable to the gardener in such a num- 

 ber of instances, that it is unnecessary 

 to say anything in their praise here; but 

 if any one wishes to know to what a 

 variety of useful purposes they may be 

 applied, he has but to read Mr. Here- 

 man's book, when, if he does not already 

 possess one, he will at once desire to do 

 so, for these simple, elegant, and econo- 

 mical structures may be applied to all 

 the purposes of the frame, greenhouse, and 

 stove with the certainty of success. Tlie 

 portion of the book devoted especially to 

 the cultivation of fiuits -will be found 

 particularly valuable to amateurs, and 

 there are few gardeners, however prac- 

 tical they may be, but may gain some 

 hints from it which will be of infinite 

 service. The lists of fruits recommended 

 are selected with great care and judg- 

 ment. — "Practical Remedy for Extortion 

 and Intimidation, practised by the aid of 

 the Superior Law Courts. London, W. 

 H. Collingridge, 'City Press,' 117 to 

 119, Alder.-gate Street." In a pamphlet 

 bearing the above title, the author sug- 

 gests a remedy for the gross extortion 

 which is being continually practised by 

 unprincipled members of the legal pro- 

 fession, to the great annoyance and cost 

 of the community, and tlie scandal of 

 the respectable lawyers, which happily 

 are numerous. That such things can be 

 done with impunity, and the perpetrators 

 escape unpunished, is no great credit to 

 English justice; but whenever a rascally 

 lawyer and a needy client like to con- 

 spire, they can perpetrate such robberies, 

 by making a false charge against some 

 wealthy person either of wrong profes- 

 sional advice, an infringement of the 

 patent law, a charge of fraud, or a charge 

 of ultra vires where there is a trust, or 

 something else calculated to prejudice the 

 public mind against him ; and many a 

 man pays a smart sum rather than put 

 himself to the trouble and annoyance of 

 fighting it out. So common have such 

 things become that in the imaginary 

 cases given by the author, the reader 

 ■\vill fancy he remembers some of the 

 circumstances. If this pamphlet proves 

 the means of establishing an efficient 

 remed}', it will have conferred a great 

 benefit upon society, and will cleanse the 



