August 10, 1907 



HORTICULTUKJL 



163 



LIBRARY NOTES. 



I find luy last contribution under the 

 above heading appeared in HOriTI- 

 CULTIJRE as far back as January 19. 

 In the inteiini tliere has been no ces- 

 sation of the efforts on the part of the 

 publishers to add to the already 

 lengthy list of gardening publications 

 and there is a considerable pile of new 

 volumes lying on my library table 

 awaiting notice. 



A short notice of some of the more 

 irnportant and interesting ones is all 

 that is within the bounds of possi- 

 bility and mav interest some of the 

 readers of HORTICULTXJRE who in 

 their gardening have also literary 

 tastes. We will begin with a handy 

 little volume entitled Every Man's 

 F. Rowles. (Hodder and Stoughton, 

 London). This is a companion volume, 

 similar in style and size, to one pre- 

 viously noticed, viz.: Everyman's Book 

 of Garden Flowers. It is essentially 

 an amateur's guide and is Illustrated 

 with about 200 small line engravings, 

 and dealing with propagation, protec- 

 tion for plants, manuring, tillage, 

 weeds, tools, and pruning and conclud- 

 ing with a garden glossary. 



Les Iris dans les Jardins, by H. 

 Correvon and H. Masse (Librairie 

 Horticole, Paris and Jardins Correvon, 

 Geneva). Books on the Iris are few 

 in number, the most recent one in 

 English being that by Mr. R. Irwin 

 Lynch entitled The Book of the Iris 

 which is a comprehensive monograph 

 likely to meet the requirements of 

 most English speaking cultivators. 

 The one under notice, however, is 

 F^-ench and the name of M. Correvon 

 is a sufficient guarantee of its excel- 

 lence. His experience in matters of 

 the Iris, to say nothing of his knowl- 

 edge of Alpine plants, is a most ex- 

 tensive one for he has jjersonally 

 visited every collection of reiiute in 

 Europe and is acquainted with all the 

 leading gi-owers on this side. 



This little handbook deals with the 

 history of the flower, with its geo- 

 graphical distiibution, with its culture 

 and propagation. The references 

 throughout the book show a wide area 

 of research and references to innumer- 

 able authorities who have written ou 

 matters relating to the Iris, a task 

 for which M. Correvon is peculiarly 

 adapted considering his linguistic 

 ability. The cultural directions are 

 from the pen of M. Masse who is a 

 capable exponent of the art of Iris 

 cultuic, and to anyone able to follow 

 the writer in the language in which the 

 book is written it v/ill doubtless prove 

 to be a useful and interesting vade rae- 

 eum on a flower of no mean import- 

 ance in our present day flower gardens. 



Report of the Third International 

 Conference, 1906, on Genetics. Edited 

 by the Rev, W. Wilks (Royal Horti-- 

 cultural .Society, London). This is a 

 bulky volume of nearly 500 pages 

 containing a report of the proceedings 

 of the conference, the papers read, and 

 reports of the festive gatherings at 

 which the invited guests were enter- 

 tained. Being of a specially technical 

 character the report does not form 

 part of the R. H. S. Journil in an or- 

 dinary way but is issued as an in- 

 dependent publication. 



In the text are inserted at intervals 

 some very excellent process engravings 



many of them portraits cf prominent 

 merabeis of the society and of the 

 gentlemen who attended the confer- 

 ence The frontispiece is that of 

 Gregor Johann Mendel, of whom the 

 editor gives a short biographical sketch 

 and account of his work in plant 

 hybridization Those persons inter- 

 ested in Genetics will find in this vol- 

 ume a mine of information that for 

 all practical purposes may be con- 

 sidered as being up-to-date. 



First Steps in Gardening, by Walter 

 P. Wright and Edward J. Castle, 

 (Cassell & Co., London and New 

 York). There are 150 pages written 

 in clear, succinct and sometimes 

 trenchant terms. There is no waste 

 of woids and most of the directions 

 given are severely practical. Hence 

 these books have appealed to a wide 

 circle of amateur gardeners in this 

 country. 



Old Fashioned Flowers, by Maurice 

 Maeterlinck, (George Allen, London). 

 A tastefully gotten up book translated 

 from the German with some pretty 

 colored illustrations by G. S. Elgood 

 who has already done some excellent 

 work in this way for other horticul- 

 tural writers as previously mentioned 

 ;n former articles on "Library Notes." 

 The text consists of a series of essays 

 upon flowers that appeal most to the 

 author's taste and are treated more in 

 a literary and artistic way than in a 

 practical or cultural manner. The 

 main divisions are old fashioned flow- 

 ers, which have three colored pictures 

 devoted to them "The Old Fashioned 

 Phlox" being a very effective one show- 

 ing the flowers standing out in bold 

 relief against some clipped trees. 

 News of Spring has for its picture 

 "Peach Blossom" while Field Flowers 

 are represented by a pretty plate de- 

 picting "Foxglove and Dog rose." 

 The final chapter "Chrysanthemums " 

 has a plate of yellow, pink and 

 bronzy earlies represented in bushy 

 clumps. The typographical part of the 

 book is executed in good style, old 

 fashioned type heavily leaded being 

 employed an J every page having a 

 wide margin. 



The ?v/eet Pea Annual, 1907, 

 (Charles H. Curtis, Hon. Sec, National 

 Pea Society, Adelaide Road, Brentford, 

 Middlesex). This is the third annua! 

 published by nur English Sweet Pea 

 Society the contents of which appeal 

 more especially to members but which 

 will also interest other sweet pea 

 growers who are not yet within the 

 fold of this young .and prosperous 

 special Society. Apart from purely 

 society recoids the contents include 

 the Bibliograj.hy of the Sweet Pea, 

 Sweet Peas in British Columbia, The 

 Sweet Pea in Table Decorations, Audit 

 of the Society's Show, 1906, Picking 

 and Packing Sweet Peas for Exhibi- 

 tion, Judging Sweet Pea Novelties, etc., 

 etc. Numerous portraits and other il- 

 lustrations abound The v.-ork is sup- 

 plied to members free but non-mem- 

 bers can obtain a copy at the price of 

 ]-2d. post free. 



logue and guide containing numerous 

 articles on dahlia culture by various 

 specialists followed by the society's 

 ofhcial catalogue of varieties. Supple- 

 ments were issued in 1905, and 1900. 

 A third supplement including all the 

 most recent novelties has now been 

 issued bringing the catalogue close up 

 to date. 



National Dahlia Society — Supple- 

 ment to the Official Catalogue and 

 Culture Guide, for 1907, (H. L. 

 Brotisson, Hon. Sec, Boyton, Foots' 

 Cray, Kent). In the year 1904 this 

 society puljllshed its most recent cata- 



The Scots Gard'ner together with, the 

 Gard'ners Kalendar by John Reid, (T. 

 N. Foulis, London and Edinburgh). 

 There would appear to be .a demand for 

 rejirints of ancient gardening books 

 and sev(!ral, including Parkinson's 

 Paradise in Sole, have been executed 

 by enteriM'ising publishers. The Scots 

 Gard'ner was originally published in 

 Edinburgh in the year 1683 and cou- 

 setjuently original copies are now 

 scarce and very expensive. This re- 

 print is edited by Alfred H. Hyatt but 

 does not claim to be a fac simile for, 

 if we remember aright, the reprint is 

 smaller in size than the original 

 although it preserves the language and 

 style of the author. Reid's book was 

 divided into two parts, the first treat- 

 ing of contrivance, the second of the 

 culture of plants. Under the first head- 

 ing the laying out and making of a 

 garden are chiefly dealt with, the 

 second part is cultural. In the editor's 

 note, following an appreciation by 

 Lord Rosebery, he points out that John 

 Reid in his book sets forth in the 

 plainest and homeliest way his idea as 

 to what a model house siiould be and 

 how the garden, both profitable and 

 pleasant, should be arranged. A fac 

 simile of the original title page is 

 given. The book is uniform with the 

 Garden Lover's seiies and is published 

 in rough green cloth binding at rather 

 less than a dollar in American money. 

 Considering that John Reid was one of 

 the very earliest Scottish writers on 

 horticulture this little volume ought to 

 have a special interest for many 

 literary horticulturists. 



A Garden of Pleasant Flowers, 

 chosen and arranged by Alfred H. 

 Hyatt, (T. N. Foulis, London and 

 Edinburgh). In every respect this is 

 uniform with the book first men- 

 tioned, and is a little volume com- 

 piled by the editor from John Parkin- 

 son's famous "Paradise in Sole," and 

 contains descriptions of the most 

 familiar garden flowers taken from 

 that work. In the editor's preface, 

 after giving a few details concerning 

 the illustrious author, he says "the 

 literary value of 'The Garden of 

 Pleasant Flowers' cannot be denied, 

 nor the charm of the author's descrip- 

 tion of his plants be over-estimated. 

 In the following pages it has been my 

 design to select from Parkinson's 

 bulky volume a posy of these flowers 

 with which we are most familiar." The 

 siielling of the original edition has 

 been adhered to throughout. 



A book of Sundial Mottoes by 

 Alfred H. Hyatt, (T. N. Foulis, Lon- 

 don and Edinburgh). Although not 

 sti'ictly a gardening book this is in- 

 cluded in the Garden Lover's series 

 and is in every respect uniform with 

 the two preceding. There are no illus- 

 trations of sundi.als as we might have 

 expected but simply a collection of 

 mottoes many in Latin, some in 

 Italian, some in English. The foreign 

 ones are translated. 



C. HARMAN PAYNE. 



