68 



HORTICULTURE 



January 19, 19«7 



On two previous occasions I have 

 given in the columns of HORTICUL- 

 TURE some short notes of recent pub- 

 lications relating to gardening. To 

 anyone interested in the literature of 

 horticulture it has long been abund- 

 antly manifest that there must be an 

 extraordinary demand for new books 

 connected with the garden and of late 

 the supply would seem to be almost 

 In excess of the demand. But as 

 month after month goes by the pub- 

 lishers' lists still contain announce- 

 ments of further additions to the . 

 already lengthy lists and as we have 

 nowadays all the resouices of color 

 printing and process blocks at our 

 command most of the new books are 

 produced in a style infinitely superior 

 to that in vogue a few years ago. The 

 printing, binding and illustrations are 

 today wonderful examples in the art 

 of oook making and many of the 

 modern books are so expensive as to 

 cause one to wonder what class of gar- 

 dener either amateur or professional 

 it is that can afford to keep constantly 

 buying them. 



One of the noblest volumes ever 

 published is unquestionably The Art 

 of Garden Design in Italy, by H. Inigo 

 Triggs (Longmans, Green & Co., 

 London.) The published price of this 

 grand folio which measures 17 inches 

 by 13 inches is a trifle over eighteen 

 dollars in American money and it is 

 dedicated by permission to H. M.. 

 Queen Margherita of Italy. It is 

 bound in buckram with gilt top and 

 contains 132 pages of letter press each 

 with a grand margin such as will 

 appeal to every book lover's heart. 

 There are 128 plates of which seventy- 

 three are reproductions in collotype 

 from photographs specially taken by 

 Mrs. Aubrey Leblond. The others are 

 half tone blocks and reproductions of 

 old engravings dealing with Italian 

 gardens. In addition the various 

 chapters are illustrated by plans, 

 sketches, and measured drawings of 

 garden detail in fountains, statues, 

 ponds, terraces, balustrades, steps, 

 vases and other innumerable garden 

 accessories. 



The author's scope is extensive, for 

 the villas and gardens selected for 

 treatment range from those in Lom- 

 bardy to those as far south as Sicily, 

 and including many tar-famed places. 



The Art of Garden Design in Italy 

 is divided into two main divisions— 

 The first consisting of an historical 

 essay dealing with garden planning 

 from the early days of the Roman 

 Republic through the imperial age 

 down to more modern times. Tne 

 other division consists of a series of 

 descriptive and critical studies of a 

 large number of the principal villas 

 still remaining. 



The frontispiece is a fine view of 

 the garden approach to the Villa 

 Palmieri at Florence. Another is ,a 

 plate representing the terraces and 

 mount on the soutb side of Isola Bella, 

 that curious terraced island garden in 

 Lake Maggiorp built by the Count 

 Borromeo and described by many a 

 traveller, from the days of Bishop 



LIBRARY NOTES 



Burnet and Charles de Brosses down 

 to the present time. Villas on Lake 

 Como are represented by views of the 

 Cypress Avenue Vilia d'Bste, the en- 

 trance forecourt of the Villa Carlotta 

 and others. The fountain of Neptune 

 in the gardens of the Palazzo Doria at 

 Genoa is a striking and effective 

 picture. The Cloister garden of the 

 Certosa di Pavia and the Cypress 

 Alley at the Villa Giusti, Verona, also 

 merit a few words. A typical Italian 

 garden pidture is that of the steps of 

 the Villa di Castello near Florence 

 with flower pots arranged on each 

 side. The loggia of the Villa Bondi 

 Florence is one of the finest. The 

 palm walk in the Royal Palace of the 

 Quirinal is also a typical scene. But 

 our time and space are limited and we 

 must pass on to other things of a 

 bibliographical nature that require 

 notice. 



Hortus Veitchii by James H. 

 Veitch. This is a work of an en- 

 tirely difllerent character although it 

 is in many respects a handsomely got 

 up book, printed, illustrated, and 

 bound in good style. It is a very large 

 octavo (11x7 3-4 in.) and is as we are 

 told on the title page a history of the 

 rise and progress of the nurseries of 

 Messrs. James Veitch and Sons to- 

 gether with an account of the botan- 

 ical collectors and hybridists em- 

 ployed by them and a list of the most 

 remarkable of their Introductions. 

 The Hortus Veitchii runs into over 

 540 pages, there is a large number of 

 full paged, well executed engravings of 

 plants, trees, flowers, etc., besides a 

 series of portraits of the various mem 

 bers of this illustrious firm. It is only 

 a short time ago since we had occa- 

 sion to notice a somewhat similar 

 kind of publication issued by Monsr. 

 Philippe de Vilmorin, but that pub- 

 lished by the English house is in 

 every respect a much more formidable 

 and comprehensive work. 



There are interesting sketches of 

 the lives of travelers sent abroad by 

 the firm at different times, similar 

 treatment being accorded to the hy- 

 bridists in the firm's employment, the 

 first hundred pages or thereabouts 

 being devoted to this preliminary 

 matter. In rapid succession follow the 

 chapters dealing with Messrs. Veitch's 

 introductions of plant novelties. 



An excellent index brings to a close 

 this work the author of which has 

 been in some respects assisted by such 

 authorities as Mr. Henry J. Veitch, Mr. 

 P. C. Veitch, Mr. J, G. Veitch, Dr. 

 Masters, Mr. G. Nicholson, etc. 



My Garden, by Eden Phillpotta. 

 (Country Life Library, London.) So 

 far as the paper, printing, binding and 

 illustrating go this is a very similar 

 book to the preceding, but if this con- 

 veys but little idea to the reader it may 

 usefully be said that every work is- 

 sued by the Country Life Library is 

 turned out in a style that reflects 

 credit on author, printer and pub- 

 lisher alike. Mr. Eden Phillpotts, al- 

 though a writer of repute, has never 

 vet written a gardening book until 

 now. He only ought to have done for 

 there is a style, and a flavor of humor 

 about his writing that is not often met 

 with in works by the regular horti- 

 cultural scribe. 



It would be too long a task to deal 

 with "My Garden" on its merits and it 

 must suffice to say that the numerous 

 illustrations are executed in the high- 

 est style and consist of some charm- 

 ing little bits from this well-known 

 literary man's gardens. Some of the 

 iris pictures are very finely done and 

 a large portion of the book is devoted 

 to that flower and also to the white 

 rockery, and rockeries nowadays are 

 the subject of an increased interest 

 in this country. Mr. Phillpotts' writ- 

 ing is descriptive of many choice 

 plants and flowers in his garden and 

 is essentially interesting from the 

 quiet humor in which he holds his 

 reader right through the book. "We 

 do not remember to have experienced 

 the same satisfaction in perusing a 

 gardening book since we read "My 

 Summer in a Garden" by Charles 

 Dudley Warner. In this work we cer- 

 tainly have a happy blending of the 

 literary and the practical elements. 



The Heart of a Garden, by Rosa- 

 mund Marriott Watson. (The De la 

 More Press, London.) This is a work 

 in which poetry and gardening are 

 combined, and is the description of an 

 English ganlen, by its owner, who is 

 evidently an enthusiastic amateur, 

 from spring to winter. There are nu- 

 merous illustrations of gardening 

 scenes from photographs, many of 

 which represent delightful little bits 

 that will appeal to many a reader. The 

 Heart of a Garden belongs to what we 

 mav properly describe as the literary 

 gardening work, and of these there 

 seems to be an ever increasing number 

 as of the more practical. 



The Small Garden Beautiful and How 

 To Make It So by A. C. Curtis. (Smith, 

 Elder & Co., London.) This is an- 

 other work executed in all points in 

 much the same manner as the book 

 preceding. The chapters are few and 

 cover such subjects as design, ground- 

 work, the herbaceous border, hardy 

 perennials, rock and water gardens, 

 roses, shrubs and climbers, the kitchen 

 garden and cultural notes. There are 

 about a dozen plans to enable begin- 

 ners to start in laying out a new 

 garden and this is a feature in Eng- 

 lish gardening books that has very 

 largely been conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence. 



Pictorial Gardening by George F. 

 ?,Tillin. (Methuen & Co., London.) 

 This is a much smaller octavo cloth 

 bound volume than those mentioned 

 just previously and the illustratious, 

 of which there are twenty-four, are 

 small and by no means so well ex- 

 Oecuted. The book is well printed in 

 a large, clear cut old style type and 

 is announced by the publishers to be 

 an attempt to apply the principles of 

 the landscape painter's art to the 

 formation of small gardens. 



Gardening Made Easy by E. T. Cook. 

 (Coiintry Life, Ltd., London.) This Is 

 a wonderful shilling's worth, and is de- 

 scribed as a simple handbook to the 

 garden. The author is a well known 

 hortii-ultural writer who has done 

 much in the way of editing some very 

 attractive books on gardening during 

 the past few years, most of them 



