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THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



W. G. BuRK. — Death has been busy of late 

 among the correspondents of the Gardeners' 

 Monthly. We have still another loss to deplore. 

 Under the signature of B. or W. G. B., we have 

 had many an interesting sketch from the pen of 

 W. G. Burk, of Media, Pa. He was born in 

 Delaware Co., Pa., in January, 1804, near where 

 he died on the 28th of April last. He was by 

 turns school-master, physician, druggist, and 

 finally retired to a farm twenty years ago. He 

 was fond of horticulture and most of the Natural 

 Sciences, and especially devoted to botanical pur- 

 suits, a taste he possessed in common with his 

 brother Isaac, well known for his devotion to the 

 building of the famous herbarium of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



North American Mosses. — It is gratifying to 

 know that the life-work of the late Professor Thos. 

 P. James is not to be thrown away. The Manual 

 of North American Mosses, by Lesquereux and 

 James is already announced as on the press. 



Systematic Census of Australian Plants. 

 — By Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller. Part ist, 

 Vasculares. Issued by the Government of Victo- 

 ria at Melbourne. 



Bentham's Flora of Australia, is now the stand- 

 dard work on Australian plants. But as in so 

 many cases, the growth of knowledge has pro- 

 duced a great number of new species, not known 

 when the earlier volumes were being prepared, and 

 a new volume as a supplement might be issued. 

 This, however, is a work of great magnitude, and 

 it may be some years before it is completed. 

 Baron Mueller, whose work did so much to make 

 the Flora of Australia possible, may give this 

 supplement at some time ; and in the meantime he 

 gives this list, which is an excellent substitute ; 

 for he not only gives the names of everything 

 known to 1882, but references to the works in 

 which they were originally described. By this 

 those who are studying Australian plants in the 

 vicinity of good libraries, can identify those not 

 included in the main work. 



American scientific men are accustomed to hard 

 labor, and get through with an immense amount 

 of solid work. But with all this familiarity with 

 intelligent industry it is yet a marvel how Dr. 

 Mueller accomplishes so much. 



Insects Injurious to Fruits. — By Wm. 

 Saunders, of London, Ontario. Philadelphia, 

 published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1883. 



It was with much pleasure that we announced 

 the preparation of this work some months ago, 



because from the peculiar studies of the author, 

 we were led to expect a work of unusual excel- 

 lence. It is not often that scientific eminence and 

 practical knowledge of horticultural topics are 

 so eminently united in one man, and this union of 

 advantages could not but tell in the production of 

 a work like this. Now that it has actually appeared 

 it is an additional pleasure to find the anticipations 

 more than fulfilled, and we are sure the fruit 

 grower will feel that it is one of the most valuable 

 works that ever appeared on his library shelves. 

 Every insect known to have an injurious influence 

 is treated of, both in scientific and popular 

 language, and insect remedies noted wherever 

 they are positively ascertained. Besides this they 

 are introduced to us by excellent figures of the 

 insects themselves, so that each can be readily 

 identified. Besides the intelligent and complete 

 manner in which the subject is handled, the 

 pubHsher deserves praise. Though the work 

 contains 436 pages and has 440 wood cuts, and 

 the paper and printing of first-class character, it is 

 issued at only $3, which we think remarkable. 



We note that the entomologists seem to have as 

 much trouble with the popular names as botanists 

 have, and the solution seems to us about as unsat- 

 isfactory. Mr. Saunders finds popular names not 

 very numerous, but he endeavors to start them by 

 translations of the scientific names. If the object 

 of popular names is to have something easier than 

 the ' technical ones, mere translations seem no 

 easier. Turning at random over the leaves, we 

 cannot for instance, think that "white lined 

 Dielephila " any easier than Dielephila lineata. 

 Mr. Saunders, however, wisely compromises. He 

 gives the people the specific name only for com- 

 mon use, reserving the generic for the use of the 

 more scientific. To try to make the whole name 

 common — to have, say, "The white-lined lover of 

 the ' Diel,' " would certainly be too much of a 

 good thing for even the most voracious feeder on 

 popular names. The subject is an exceedingly 

 difficult one to handle. Every body admits the 

 value of popular names for the popular vocabulary, 

 but just how to get at them in any satisfactory 

 way, or to keep them in satisfactory shape after 

 they have been started, is the great trouble. 



The Bee-keepers' Manual. — By Professor 

 A. J. Cook, Lansing, Mich. Published by the 

 author. 



A little boy remarked to the writer of this not 

 long ago, that he thought the poor bee had a hard 

 time of it, working from daylight to dark as hard 



