IRISH GARDENING 



SI 



liiive Ijt'cii wiser to have ([uoted his aiitliority. 

 One result of his not doiniz' so is that he weakens 

 the authority of his own individual work. 



The discovery of inaccuracies in the descrip- 

 tions of plants that one knows might well lead one 

 to suspect the existence of others amongst those 

 that one does not know; lait Mr. Farrer's woi'ks 

 cannot be judged by ordinary standards, and the 

 careful reader of his books soon learns how to dis- 

 I'riminate between the good and the bad. For 

 while, over any plant or point of interest that 

 attracts him, Mr. Farrer is capable of expending 

 more time and energy in accumidating informa- 

 tion about it than possibly any other Avriter of 

 Gardening books — no trouble being too great for 

 him to take, no point of interest escaping his 

 notice. On the other hand, if a thing interests 

 him but little, he dismisses it brietlv and not 



surely nothing is to be gained, when one is dealing 

 with a monotypic genus like Morisla by the sub- 

 stitution of the original name— 3/. mo/ffr/it/fos— for 

 the universally known catalogue name of .1/. 

 hypogea? I foresee a halcyon time for the enter- 

 prising nurseryman who hastens to correct his 

 catalogue nomenclature ! 



The usefulness of the work as a book of reference 

 cannot be finally judged until it has been compre- 

 hensively indexed. The omission of an index was 

 an oversight which must be repaired at the earliest 

 possible moment by the issue of a supplement, for 

 many of the sulvspecies and synonyms appear 

 only in the body of the descriptions of species, and 

 cannot be found without an index. 



As to the general value and authority of the de- 

 scriptions, there is so nnich that is new and un- 

 known that one naturally hesitates to say anything 



Anemone bland.4 scythinica. 

 A Ijeautiful si)ring flower, white, with blue reverse. 



always too accurately. Mr. Farrer is essentially 

 an author of moods, and, as they vary, he either 

 leads us by the hand through the alpine meadows 

 among the hills, or leaves us wallowing in the 

 l)og garden ! 



As a general rule it may be assumed that the 

 accuracy of Mr. Farrer's descriptions nuiy be 

 trusted in proportion to their length and wealth of 

 detail. 



The author has accomplislied a hercidean task 

 in tracing garden names back to an original and 

 authentic name; the confusion has, hitherto, been 

 terrible, and although, as a result of Mr. Farrer's 

 labours, our plants nuist be largely re-named, the 

 ultimate gain will he enormous, provided that the 

 use of " oldest names " is not inii)osed upon us as 

 a. general rule without any exceptions. For in- 

 stance, while everything is to be gained by the 

 disentanglement of the distinct ('(uiijki n iih( 

 species, cd'spiftisd. JicUdid't, and maJt'-sfn. froni 

 their joint catalogue name of C. " punilhi," 



beyond this, that certain sections, notably those 

 on Vr'nuald, rotenf'iila and (reiifiinut , seem especi- 

 ally well done. Large as is the number of plants 

 described, the author only claims to have made a 

 selection. But that this selection is both large and 

 comprehensive nuiy be judged from the fact that 

 his two volumes contain over 1,000 pages. There 

 is an enormous number of good things in the book, 

 and one cannot grudge the cost. One can only be 

 amazed at the industry and ability of the author 

 which enabled him to complete so stupendous a 

 task within the limits of an ordinary lifetime. The 

 opening chapters on Rock Garden construction 

 might well be omitted, there being little to add to 

 what Mr. Farrer has already told us in his earlier 

 works. 



The illustrations are very numerous and wonder- 

 ful, and, taking it all in all, what is good in the 

 book is so good that one regrets all the more that 

 what is not good is not nnich better. 



M. H. 



