November 12, 19 14] 



NATURE 



279 



BOTAKY AND GARDEXING. 



(i) The Staudard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. 

 By L. H. Bailey. \'ol. i, A. B. Pp. xx + 602 

 - plates. (New York : The Macmillan Co. ; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 255. 

 net. 



(2) Plants and their Uses. An Introduction to 

 Botany. By F. S. Sargent. Pp. x + 6io. 

 (London: Constable and Co., Ltd.. 1914.) 

 55. net. 



{3) My Garden in Suniwcr. By E. A. Bowles. 

 Pp. viii -1-316 + plates. (London and Edin- 

 burgh : S. C. and E. C. Jack, 191 4.) 55. net. 



(4) Some Desert FJo'wers collected near Cairo. 

 By Grace M. Crowfoot. Pp. 50 (35 plates). 

 (Cairo : F. Diemer, n.d.) 65. 



(5) Flower Favourites : Their Legends, Symbol- 

 ism and Significance. By Lizzie Deas. 2nd 

 edition. Pp. viii-^229. (London: Jarrold and 

 Sons, n.d.). 35. hd. net. 



(O'T'^HE Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 

 JL by Mr. Bailey is indeed a monumental 

 work— we wish that its weight did not add force 

 to the use of our adjective. Only the first volume 

 is before us, but from this it will be seen how 

 comprehensive and useful the completed work will 

 be. It is written from the point of view of the 

 American horticulturist and in some respects is 

 therefore not always suitable for the English 

 reader, but so much is of real value to all engaged 

 in the science that its decidedly American point 

 of view does not detract seriously from its value 

 to the British or Colonial reader. 



An admirable synopsis of the plant kingdom 

 extending over 78 pages, is followed by a very 

 useful key to the families and genera of plants 

 Then comes an exhaustive list of plant names in 

 Latin with their English equivalents, which should 

 be found of great service. Our only quarrel with 

 this portion is the division of the Latin words, 

 as an aid to their pronunciation, but entirely irre- 

 spective of their formation. Surely the position 

 of the accent would have been sufficienl. How 

 vuipleasant and misleading are the following : 

 niultij ugus, oxyphyl his, pentan drus, dichot 

 oinus, and the like ! 



There is also a good glossary of terms. 



The articles on the plants themselves are well 

 written, and in addition there is a mass of general 

 botanical information. L'nder the headings 

 " Arboretum " and "Arboriculture," for instance, 

 there is a disquisition of some 35 pages in double 

 column, giving quite an exhaustive treatise on 

 the subject. Plant weeding receives equally use- 

 ful treatment. Some articles like that on flower 

 arrangement might well have been omitted, but on 

 NO. 2350, VOL. 94] 



the whtJe the book is a very useful publication, 

 though had it been prepared for English readers 

 they would probably have preferred a volume less 

 discursive and more in the style of Nicholson's 

 Dictionary. 



(2) An old friend in a new dress presents cer- 

 tain attractions if the dress is suitable, but we 

 object to a rather thin attempt to veil the usual 

 form of teaching under a dull and useless cloak. 

 Mr. Sargent sets out with the idea that botany 

 can be best taught by approaching it from the 

 economic side, and finds himself in difficulties be- 

 cause with each plant or group of plants he is in 

 the midst of his subject before he has been able 

 to deal with the elements. The earlier chapters 

 which treat of plant foods, vegetables, fruits, 

 spices, condiments, drugs, poisonous plants, etc., 

 are very well done in their way, but the method 

 necessarily results in a jumbling together of a 

 heterogeneous collection of unrelated plants and 

 masses of useful information set out in a dull and 

 unattractive manner. 



Then follows an account of certain natural 

 orders, some treated diffusely, others very shortly, 

 and a remarkable set of formulse of seed plants 

 which are fearsome to behold. We venture to 

 think that he who seeks to derive a love of botany 

 from Mr. Sargent's book will be in the unfortunate 

 position of the blind man looking for the black 

 hat. 



(3) Why is it that so many people who excel in 

 one sphere of life attempt to display their pjowers 

 in "directions in which they are quite unsuited? 

 In the case of those who make books there are 

 many sad examples of people who, however much 

 they excel in their own particular line, are quite 

 incapable of expressing with a pen what they can 

 ordinarily impart with ease and grace by word of 

 mouth. Among books dealing with gardens and 

 gardening more than one case could be cited, but 

 perhaps one of the most unfortunate efforts is 

 that by Mr. Bowles in his attempt to describe his 

 own beautiful garden. To those whose privilege 

 it is to know the author, and who can appreciate 

 his rare and intimate knowledge of plants and 

 their cultural requirements, it is a matter of pain 

 to find him in print a very Mr. Hyde by com- 

 parison. 



If only he could have begun his chapters in the 

 middle, and so obviated the terrible stumbling- 

 block of a grandiloquent opening, things might 

 have been better, but even in the middle of a 

 chapter it is a severe trial to come across such a 

 passage as this : 



"Two out of our three bushes of Buddleia 

 globosa reside close by where we now stand, and 

 are providing free drinks for the bees and a de- 



