THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 109 



the civil war, and the collapse for a season of the prosperity of the 

 gay city, were grievous impediments to his work, some of which was 

 actually destroyed by the tires that told of the despair of the pro- 

 moters of the Commune. But the great engineer, architect, and 

 planter was not to be beaten by war, revolution, or incendiarism, and 

 here is his book, a mighty folio measuring twenty-seven by nineteen 

 inches, weighing nearly three-quarters of a hundredweight, a perfect 

 piece of luxury, with grand letterpress, sumptuous pictures, and 

 myriads of plaus, sections, and other working details of inestimable 

 value, and calculated to afford instruction and entertainment to its 

 possessor far beyond the capabilities of any similar work of our 

 time. It contains a carefully written and richly-illustrated history 

 of gardening, with a critical analysis of styles, founded, of course, 

 on the relations of gardening to architecture. Then follow descrip- 

 tions of the parks, boulevards, fountains, and squares of Paris, with 

 the most minute particulars of the improvements effected, copious 

 lists of the trees aud shrubs employed in the plantations, and a 

 wonderful series of exquisite steel plates, chromo-lithographs, and 

 wood engravings illustrative of the interesting test. To a lover of 

 books this must prove a bounteous feast of reason, and if kept in a 

 series of jjortfolios, to be handy for spreading out, the plates will 

 prove to be a grand gallery of pictures. 



To enter into any analysis of the contents is simply impossible 

 with the limited space at our command, but this brief notice may be 

 useful in persuading many of our readers to secure a copy while a 

 few still remain, for the present price is only about half the original 

 figure, and it is not likely that so costly a book will be reprinted. 

 The publisher in Paris is M. Eochschild, of 13, Rue des Saints- 

 Peres. The publishers in London are Messrs. Barthes and Lowell, 

 Great Marlborough Street; and Messrs. Asher and Co., Bedford 

 Street, Covent Garden. 



ANNUAL FLOWERS FOE SUMMER BEDDING. 



BT JOHN WALSH. 



[EDDING annuals comprise a class of plants of the utmost 

 value to the amateur with limited resources, because 

 of the facility with which large stocks may be raised in 

 the spring, and the effective appearance they present 

 throughout the summer. By far the largest proportion 

 of annual flowers are comparatively worthless, except for the mixed 

 borders. Large numbers are very weedy in character, whilst many 

 others are too ephemeral, lasting a few weeks only in bloom. Some 

 there are which have a neat habit, are very showy and attractive, 

 and, under proper management, continue in bloom throughout the 

 season ; and it is to these I am now desirous of directing the atten- 

 tion of readers of the Floeal Would. I am anxious not to over- 

 praise them, or to imply, by what may be said, that they are 



April. 



