288 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[September, 



quence as a purely elementary treatise on for- 

 estry would have been. In such a treatise all 

 that is of no immediate service should be care- 

 fully eschewed. Of what possible use is the 

 numbering of paragraphs in a compiled work ? 

 In real elementary works like Lindley's Theory 

 of Horticulture, or Gray's Strxictural Botany, or 

 Sach's Text Book, the paragraphs are numbered 

 because there are cross-references all through 

 the pages. But here we have paragraphs num- 

 bered to the total amount of 1,428, without one 

 solitary use of them throughout the work that 

 we remember ! If the author had only thought 

 to use them in his index, as Gray has in his 

 Structural Botany, it would have been an admira- 

 ble idea. Let the reader, however, look on this 

 " Elementary " title as a misnomer, and pass 

 the criticism which a real work of that character 

 would rightfully suggest— taking the work rather 

 as a contribution to forest knowledge and noth- 

 ing else, he will thank Dr. Hough warmly for 

 his labors. There is a vast amount of informa- 

 tion gathered together in the book which makes 

 it one of great value. This is rendered practi- 

 cally available by the admirable index at the 

 end. It is a common fault to find excellent 

 works almost useless for want of a comprehen- 

 sive index. Dr. Hough's work will be a model 

 in this respect. Though there are but 381 pages 

 in the book, a rough estimate shows 1,938 refer- 

 ences in the index. If it cannot be considered 

 that the title is borne out by the body of the 

 work, it can at least be said it is among the best 



perhaps the best reference book on American 



forestry that has yet appeared, and no arbori- 

 cultural library can afford to be without it. 



Tenth Cincinnati Industrial Exposition Pro- 

 gramme OF THE Horticultural Department.— 

 This is one of the best conducted and most 

 useful of all our annual horticultural exhibitions, 

 and it deserves the support of exhibitot^ from 

 all parts of the United States. The preniiums 

 are liberal and the judgments have always been 

 regarded as intelligent and fair. The exhibition 

 in this department will be this year, from Sep- 

 tember 6ih to October 7th. Different things on 

 different days. Charles H. Law, Chairman of 

 Committee, Cincinnati, will send programmes. 



Randolph County (Ind.) Horticultural So- 

 ciety.— This society is following in the good 

 work of Montgomery (Ohio) Horticultural So- 

 ciety, as we judge from a sample of its proceed- 

 ings now before us. The meetings are held on 

 the grounds of amateurs, and are pleasant, 

 social affairs, independent of the horticultural 

 stimulus they give. On June 17th the meeting 



was at the house of D. E. Hoffman, at Winches- 

 ter. They take dinner, then hold the meeting. 

 On this occasion the discussions were wholly 

 devoted to fruit culture. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



A Peculiar Auriphone.— The Farm Journal, 

 of Philadelphia, is the centre of a wonderful set 

 of correspondents, who are very much alarmed 

 about the editor of the Gardener's Monthly. 

 Every once in a while some one writes to it 

 about him, seeming to prefer the Farm Journal 

 to any other for making the inquiry. Sometimes 

 a correspondent wants to know about " the State 

 Botanist," or the "editor of a bogus paper;" 

 and then, again, it may be "a botanist of Ger- 

 mantown," or "a nurseryman of Germantown," 

 whose doings worry the correspondents' souls. 

 The most interesting feature of this literature is 

 the answers. They fit the questions wonder- 

 fully. Indeed, if the answers had been on file, 

 waiting for the correspondence to come along, 

 they could not be more timely, seasonable and 

 fresh. 



The latest is from a correspondent who is 

 troubled about an article written by a "high 

 authority" in Germantown for the Germantown 

 Telegraph. The editor gives solace to this anx- 

 ious heart by assuring it, that there are lots of 

 persons who love to write " in order to hear 

 themselves talk." The editor, it must be said to 

 his credit, generally tells his long list of almost 

 heart-broken correspondents that the queer fel- 

 low who " writes to hear himself talk," and who 

 does so many other extraordinary things, cannot 

 possibly be the editor of the Gardeners Monthly. 

 And yet the editor of the Gardener's Monthly 

 does not know but he might be a proud listener 

 to the sweet sounds which it seems float in the 

 evening breeze from some one's pen, and is 

 almost sorry the Farm Journal cannot assure its 

 disconsolate friends that they have actually iden- 

 tified the right man. 



Derby Arboretum. — "J. B.," Cedar Falls, Iowa, 

 says : " I was very glad to read in June number 

 of Gardener's Monthly the communication 

 from Wm. J. Harding respecting the Arboretum, 

 Derby, England, my old home thirty years ago. 

 How it revived old associations ! It was open 

 two days each week for the public. When I 

 left, one day an entrance fee of one shilling was 

 charged, the other day was free ; the latter day 

 was used chiefly by the poorer class. 



