THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 187 



collards, cauliflowers, endive, celery, cabbages, green kale, savoys, and whatever 

 else is needed to supply the table during autumn and winter, the grand point being 

 to secure enough of each, and somewhat of a reserve of plants to fill up vacancies, 

 and to plant odd plots. Sow now spinach, turnips, lettuce, horn carrot, radishes. 



NEW BOOKS. 



The Nap.cissvs ; its Histoky and Culture. By F. W. Buebidge (Eeeve 

 & Co.).— Messrs. Eeeve promise a series of elaborate monographs of interesting 

 plants, and the present volume may be regarded as an example of them. It is a 

 handsome large octavo, containing forty-ei!;ht coloured plates of narcissi, with 

 chapters on the history, cultivation, classification, and garden uses of these flowers. 

 It is an admirable piece of work, that entitles Jlr. Burbidge to the hearty thanks 

 of all lovers of hardy plants, and, though it is cast in a somewhat " popular " model, 

 it will be of use to the scientific botanist also, for the drawings ot structure are 

 carefully made, and the coloured figures serve as a guide wherein the daffodils are 

 always in flower. As there are about a hundred and thirty species and varieties of 

 narcissi in cultivation, such a work as this is of much greater importance than would 

 be supposed by those who know of only two or three kinds of these flowers. 



The Pinetum. By George Gordon (Bohn).— This is a new and improved 

 edition of a work we recommended to our readers in the Floral World for Novem- 

 ber 1858. Since that time many ne\v species and varieties of coniferous trees have 

 been introduced to cultivation, and the taste for such things has not only spread, 

 but improved. The " Pinetum," as a department of the garden, is regarded with less- 

 importance than formerly, for we have learnt to use these noble trees in a better 

 manner than in forming sepulchral groves. Now we see them spreadirig their arms 

 grandly and gracefully on the lawn, or, in their more rigid and fastigiate forms, 

 giving a high tone to the decorations of the terrace, or, better still, as at Dropmore, 

 giving distinct features to the woods. Gordon's " Pinetum " has been carefully 

 revised and enlarged, and is the most useful book of its class, not forgetting the 

 larger undertaking of the Messrs. Lawson. It is, however, in its present form, not 

 only a complete catalogue of conifers, that collectors and cultivators may consult 

 with advantage, hut it is a book for the merchant and the traveller, for in it will be 

 found a list of all the known names of coniferous trees, in all known languages, 

 carefully compiled by the publisher, Mr. Henry Bohn, who is one of the most 

 learned and tasteful of amateur horticulturists. 



Heredity and Hybridism. By E. W. Cox, S.L. (Longmans).— In this neat 

 octayt) volume Seijeant Cox proposes to explain the phenomena of heredity and 

 hybridism by the supposition of a dual germ. As distinguished from the aura 

 theory, this may be called the duplex theory, and has a better claim on our 

 attention, both because it is apparently seasoned with common sense in the first 

 initance, and is full of power when employed to explain and illustrate the transmission 

 of special parental characteristics. The classical reader will not need to be reminded 

 that in some sense it is a reproduction of the philosophy of the grand old Stagyrite . 



Les Akbres F}triTiERs a Branches E.enversees. Par M. Dolivot (Dupont, 

 1, Rue des Pretres, Grenoble). — A very pretty, ingenious, and original treatise on 

 fruit culture, the main object of which is to teach the mysterious art of reverse 

 training. It is copiously illustrated with examples, and will afford abundant enter- 

 tainment to amateur pomologists who have made some progress in the most refined 

 manipulations of pinching, pruning, and training fruit trees. 



Transactions of the MASSACursEXTg Uorticultural Society, for the 

 YEAR 1874, Part II. (Tolman and White, 221, Washington Street, Boston).— We 

 have to thank our good friends on the other side for this continuation of the Massa- 

 chusetts Society's Transactions. We dare not consume space in criticising it, but 

 give it a hearty welcome, not only for its valuable contents, but because it suggests 

 to the Britishers that while they talk much about horticulture, they do not keep 

 pace with their transatlantic cousins in the adoption of measures for its promotion. 

 The most important papers in this issue are the reports of the committees on fruits, 



Jane, 



