l 9°3 The Field Naturalist' $ Library 179 



Ikkks and Shrubs for English Gardens. By E. T. Cook. 

 London: George Newnes, Ltd. Price 12s. 6d. 



This volume is one of die " Country Life " Library, a name which to 

 English readers is synonymous with wealth and profusion of illustrations 

 of high artistic value, excellence of paper, type, and appearance, to- 

 gether with certainty of a letterpress from well-qualified authority. The 

 book before us comes up to all this, and is indeed a magnificent tribute 

 to the beauty of English gardens and woods. We have never seen in 

 any one volume such a beautiful series of photographs of indigenous 

 and other trees and shrubs reproduced in such excellent taste. It is 

 the wish of the author that the book may do something to make English 

 gardens more beautiful and interesting, and that it may win many to see 

 the better ways of planting ; also that it may be the means of bringing 

 forward the many trees and shrubs of rare charm that are generally 

 unknown or unheeded. Mr Cook rightly deplores the sad want of 

 variety amongst evergreens and deciduous shrubs in the average English 

 garden, and proceeds to indicate in no uncertain manner how the lack is 

 to be made good. The book is eminently practical in its teaching, and 

 many of the illustrations show the results of the advice given in the text 

 about pruning, planting, &c. For instance, Mr Cook condemns the 

 erroneous doctrines, still largely taught and practised, concerning the 

 propagating of Coniferae, and asserts that it may be laid down as a law 

 that species of Conifera? should never be grafted, but raised from seed. 



The plan of the work is to deal with the trees and shrubs suitable for 

 the varying environments — woodland, sea-coast, rock-garden, water-side, 

 and so forth ; in addition to giving full instruction on such matters as 

 planting, pruning, removal of large trees, care of old trees, grouping, 

 and all the other practical work of arboriculture. It is a volume that 

 will commend itself to all concerned, and prove a valuable guide as well 

 as a handsome companion. 



The Book of British Ferns. By Chas. T. Druery, F.L.S. 

 London : George Newnes, Ltd. Price 3s. 6d. net. 

 This welcome and elegant little volume is compiled and edited by the 

 president of the British Pteridological Society, Mr Druery. It is the 

 result of a decision of that society in August 1899, and in no way 

 supplants the work of Mr Lowe, which is a work of reference for classi- 

 fication or confirmation of rare species as well as common ones. This 

 work meets the need of a list on purely selective lines, embracing only 

 the pick, and rejecting all such faulty members as may not possess 

 some sufficiently redeeming character in another direction. It is sup- 

 plemented by a description of the various species, chapters on Culture, 

 Propagation, Rockeries, Frames, Ferns for Shady Gardens, Ferns in 

 Rooms, Fern- Hunting, Fern-Crossing and Hybridising, &c. It is 

 framed on non-technical lines, and the popular nomenclature is adhered 

 to, both of which features make the book suited to beginners as well as 

 to advanced students. For those who care to dip deeper into the life- 

 history of ferns the appendix contains some really good things. We 

 may mention of these chapters those on Apospory in ferns, and that on 



