IRISH GARDENING 



59 



*' Les Plantes des Montagnes et dcs 

 Rochers/' 



With the number of rock gardeners daily in- 

 creasing a demand has been created for suitable 

 Hterature, whicli ex{)erts and others are doing 

 their best to meet, and scarcely a month passes 

 without some addition being made to the gi-ovving 

 collection of woi'ks upon alpines. There was a 

 time when I read with avidity every work upon 

 the subject that I could get hold of, but I soon 

 found it was very necessary to discriminate, and 

 having weeded many of them out I eventually 

 selected some four or five which seemed to me to l)e 

 the most pi'actical and authoritative — these I 

 keep on my table for daily reference. But their 

 number must now be increased, for to them must 

 be added a very notable contribution from the 

 pen of Mons. H. Correron, of Geneva. 



Mons. Correron's reputation as a collector and 

 cultivator ot al]>ines is world wide ; he has 

 already done much, both by his articles in the 

 gardening press and by his books, to promote 

 the successful cultivation of ali)ines. I have not 

 seen his " Atlas des Fleurs Alpines," but I am 

 acquainted with most of his other works, and 

 while I am grateful to him tor the help I derived 

 from them I am especially grateful for his latest 

 work, which contains matters of unusual interest 

 which I can see will prove of inestimable assist- 

 ance to me. Mons. Correron has the knowledge, 

 and also the art of imparting that knowledge, 

 and to anyone who desires a compact up-to-date, 

 handbook on the subject, suitable for daily 

 reference, I wotild urge the desbability of their 

 acquiring a copy without delay. 



The book is full of good things. The beginner 

 is provided with instriictions and diagrams 

 which should enable hini to construct and 

 turnish rock and wall gardens. The collector is 

 taken to the mountain tops and shown the plants 

 in situ, with their aspects, habits and soils ; he 

 is shown where to collect them, and how to 

 acclimatise them in the rock garden when 

 collected ; and to those who, like Mons. Correron, 

 prefer to raise their stock from seeds, careful 

 instruction as to the raising and handling of 

 seedlings is given, and there are special chapters 

 on " difficult " plants and si)ecial methods of 

 culture — .such as moraines and peat beds. But 

 the larger portion of the book — some 400 pages — 

 is devoted to a catalogue of ]ilants in cultivation, 

 with notes upon them, which are so extremely 

 valuable that the work is indispensable for them 

 alone. There are few of \is who have not paid 

 dearly for an insufficient knowledge of new 

 ])lants. For instance, one receives some addi- 

 tions to our collection and plants them out by 

 guess work only to find when they are weU 

 established that the tall and rampageous plant 

 is in front and the smaller and weak(>r ones 

 behind it. This is a cominon but very ii-ritatiug 

 mistake from which Mons. Correron's book should 

 save us in the futiu'e ; and this is not all, he not 

 only gives one the height of the plants but also 

 their colour, tinie of flowering, habitat, methods 

 of cultmv and of proi)agat ion. 



I confess myself greatly ])leased with this list, 

 and I have hastened to get it extra strongly 

 bound, as I foresee it will be in daily use in my 

 garden. Of course the list is not complete ; evcTi 

 a man of Mons. Correron's vast experience cannot 

 have seen and'grown every jilant in cultivation, 



but as far as it goes it is the most complete that 

 I have seen, and I trust, as time goes on, that he 

 will issue appendices on the same lines to make 

 his list even more complete. 



Space will not allow me to touch upon all that 

 the book contains, but I think I have detailed 

 enough to convince the keen rock gardener of 

 its exceptional merits. — Murray Hohxibrook. 



The Small Rock Garden.* 



Year by year the litths mount aiu plants seem to 

 gather more devotees ; at lirst one may be at- 

 tracted by their brilliant and comparative! v large 

 flowers, from that stage the beginner commences 

 cultivating them, and ends with tying to outvie 

 his neighbour in his successes with rarities. 

 Garden literature kee])s i)ace with the growing 

 demand, aud^we can say Mr. Jenkins is a writer 

 of long experience, which, after all, is the best 

 teacher. 



The author treats with the subject in a practical 

 manner, dealing with the best site — an open one — 

 at a distance from trees, which are siich cruel 

 robbers ; rocks and soils are discussed. In 

 planting, " massing " plants of one kind is adviser], 

 and this is the keynote of success if a showv ami 

 effective rockery is the object. C*hapters are 

 given upon wall gardens, moraines, bog gardens, 

 and all such adjuncts to the modern rockery, 

 while in the lists of ])lants much information "is 

 given in a tabulated form. 



There are some mistakes in the spelling of 

 botanical names needing correction, while we 

 consider the chapter on the moraine rat her weak. 

 Epilobium Dodonaei can thrive without t he 

 moraine in nature, and in the garden is a hit of a 

 ramp. Bamondias also can well do without Iwlp 



of the moraine and look far better in a half-shady 



rock wall. In the chapter on " rntli'sirahle 

 Plants for the Bockery," Convolvulus altliM-oidcs 



is mentioned, the true jilant. but is not a 

 runner," although C. tenuissimus, which is ofti-n 



sold under the former name, is a great spi'c.ulcr. 



and is ])robably the one intended. 



The book is cheaj), well printed, and lincly 



illustrated, and should be a help and guide to 



many of those taking u]) the culture of Ali)ines. 



* " The Small Bock Garden," by E. H. Jenkins. 

 Edited by F. W. TIarvey. The Offices of Country 

 Life, 20 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C., 

 price 2s. Od. 



The Manuring of Market Garden 

 Crops, 1913.* 



This new edition is n()t only \iscful to iii.ii'krt 

 gardeners, but to all vt^getable growers. 



The experimental work has now reached its 

 2(lth year, and has been carriiul out on th(! farm 

 of one of the 'authors at JIadlow, Tonbridge. 



In nearly all cases it shows how a saving in cash 

 is effected by giving a light dressing of dung 

 aid(>d by artilicials, instead of a heavy dressing 

 of dung aloiK^ ; except in the case of early potatoes, 

 where a heavy dressing of stable manure has 

 given the best results. This ai)pears not only as 

 an average conclusion, but it holds good indivi- 

 dually for 12 of the 17 seasons of the tests. 



* " The Manuring of Market Garden Crops, 

 l!ti:j," by Bernard Dyer, D.Sc, and F. W. 

 Shrivell. Bublished by Vinton cSc Co., 8 Bream's 

 Buildings, ChanceryjLane. K.C., price Is., post free. 



