CURRENT PUBLICATIONS IN RURAL ART. 533 
of this food, protecting its own resources from waste and from too rapid use, and con- 
verting the highly soluble matters of animal exuvie as well as of artiticial refuse (ma- 
nures) into permanent supplies. 
The author is preparing another volume on a number of topics con- 
nected with the feeding of crops, which have not been treated upon, 
and which will naturally find their place in a discussion of the improve- 
ment of the soil by tillage and fertilizers. 
TREES, PLANTS, AND FLOWERS; where and how they grow. A familiar history of the 
vegetable kingdom, by the author of “Our Own Birds,” with seventy-three engray- 
ings. 12 mo., pp. 140. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. : 
This little book is intended to call attention to the beauties of, crea- 
tion. It gives the history and associations of the prominent trees of the 
world, as well as the leading grasses, flowers, alpine and aquatic plants 
and ferns, the contemplation of which is neglected because their appear- 
ance is so familiar. A description of the habits and uses of many plants 
is followed by an account of their discovery and introduction; as, 
for instance, the Victoria Regia, with its singular beauty and remark- 
ble size, having leaves six feet in diameter. This plant was introduced 
into England from Bolivia in 1846, and is now to be found in several 
conservatories in this country, as well as in Europe. England abounds 
in trees of historic interest, some of which, there is good evidence to 
show, are upwards of one thousand years old. But there are few trees 
that attain the gigantic proportions and the age of the California pines. 
By counting the annual rings, it is proved that some of the oldest had 
been growing for three thousand years. As there is no good reason to 
doubt the aceuracy of this computation, they must certainly have ex- 
isted in the days of the Prophet Elijah ; or even, as Dr. Lindley observes 
of one of them, “It must have been a little plant when Samson slew his 
Philistine.” The uses and associations of the palms, cedars, oaks, pines, 
magnolias, &c., are given, forming a volume of much interest. 
SEVENTY-FIVE FLOWERS, and how to cultivate them. By Edward Sprague Rand, 
jr., author of “Flowers for the Parlor and Garden,” “ Garden Flowers,” “ Bulbs,” 
&ec. 12mo., pp. 210. J. E. Tilton & Co., 1870. 
Under this modest title Mr. Rand has furnished a valuable book, 
with particular descriptions of seventy-five genera of flowers that are 
grown with the least care, and which will well repay the cultivator by 
their beauty and fragrance. They are plants that can be easily obtained, 
and will grow freely and bloom well in common soil. The descriptions 
of the individual flowers are preceded by general directions for prepar- 
ing the soil, planting, and propagating, on which subjects many of the 
old works on horticulture contain much needless mystery. For instance, 
it formerly seemed necessary in cultivating even a small flower garden 
that a person should have free access to a peat meadow, a sand-bank, 
and a wood-lot, to supply himself with the necessary peat, sand, and 
Jeaf-mold, which looked discouraging to a beginner. Now, while peat, 
meadow-mnnd, leaf-mold, well-rotted sods, and silver-sand are import- 
ant ingredients in potting and garden culture, in general out-door 
gardening, they are not absolutely necessary, and most flowers may be 
grown to perfection without any of them. Very few garden plants re- 
quire a peat soil, and none absolutely need the elaborate combinations 
generally prescribed. 
To prepare a flower border, the soil shouid be excavated eighteen to 
twenty-four inches in depth. If the subsoil is gravel, throw in a few 
inches of leaves, pine needles, old straw, or any coarse litter, and then 
fill up the bed with the good loam usually found in most gardens and 
