Lita-ary Notices. 391 



of eacli variety. Select lists of varieties adapted to the several portions of the 

 country are given ; closing with the addition of a table, with varieties alphabeti- 

 cally arranged, giving size, origin, class, season, and quality, and a general index. 

 While we recognize most of the old and well-known sorts, we notice the names 

 of many varieties entirely new to us in New England, but none the less valua- 

 ble on that account for those portions of our widely-extended country where 

 they seem to flourish. 



We regxrd this book as a valuable addition to the list of works on American 

 pomology, and cheerfully accord to our friend Warder a place in the front rank 

 of American writers on the fruits of America. With this book before him, the 

 novice may perform every operation connected with fruit-growing, from the plant- 

 ing of the seed to the successful harvesting of a remunerative crop of the very 

 best varieties. It is well gotten up on good paper, and well printed in clear 

 type, and is a credit to its publisher. It deserves to find a place in the happy 

 homes of thousands of our farmers on the hillsides of New England, in the rich 

 and pleasant valleys and along the rivers of the Middle States, on the broad 

 and fertile prairies of the West, and onward over the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific slope. Everywhere, from the rising sun of the east to the setting sun 

 of the west, let all such books be received with welcome. 



The American Gardener's Assistant : In Three Parts, &;c., &:c. By 

 Thomas Bridgeman. New edition, revised, enlarged, and illustrated, 

 by S. Edwards Todd. New York : William Wood & Co. 1867. 

 I vol. Pp. 152, 211, 166. 



Many a time in our younger days we have left work in the garden, and wan- 

 dered into the house to consult our old copy of Bridgeman, in order to see 

 whether we were going on right or not ; and we are consequently very ready to 

 welcome an old friend in a new and handsome dress. 



This edition divides the book, as before, into three parts, which treat of the 

 kitchen, fruit, and flower garden respectively ; and each division is replete with 

 useful and trustworthy information. The beginner can find here directions 

 about almost all operations connected with the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, 

 and flowers, written in a pleasant and attractive style. Specialists- — people 

 who are looking for exhaustive treatises upon particular varieties of fruit — will, 

 of course, understand that this book has not been written for them ; but, as a 

 general vade-vicaun for the ordinary affairs of the garden and orchard, this 

 manual answers every purpose. It is practical in its tendency, and every thing 

 laid down in it appears to be derived from the author's actual experience. He 

 neither brings forward nor originates many theories : and on this account we are 

 the more disposed to speak well of it ; for, though we can make no true progress 

 without theories, beginners and amateurs, who consult text-books to know just 

 what they must do in a given case, do not want to be befogged by endless and 

 unprofitable discussions, based often on very doubtful premises. 



Theorizing to excess is, we think, the fault of too many modern works on 



