42 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULtURE. 



, REVIEW. 



Village and Farm Cottages. The Requirements of Amer- 

 ican Village Homes considered and suggested ; with 

 Designs for such Houses of moderate Cost. By Henry 

 W. Cleaveland, William Backus, and Samuel D. Backus. 

 Illustrated with one hundred Engravings. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co. 1856. 



We have read t'nis volume with no little interest. There 

 is an important and growing class, whose home wants have 

 hitherto received but a small share of attention. Architects'^ 

 seem to have considered it beneath the dignity of their pro- 

 fession to bestow their skill and taste upon dwellings of small 

 or moderate cost ; and yet it may be doubted whether the^e 

 humble dwellings do not present as wMe a field for the ex- 

 ercise of their talents as those of a costlier character. There 

 seems to be an opinion, that a poor man has nothing to do 

 with matters of taste. Perhaps not ; yet we venture to say, 

 that among our mechanics will be found, as true a taste and 

 as just an appreciation of the beautiful, as among any other 

 class whatever. We regard favorably any plan which is 

 likely to increase the home comforts of the working man. 

 Downing and others have given us excellent treatises on 

 Landscape Gardening and Rural Architecture, useful, how- 

 ever, chiefly to the millionaire. A great void was left, which 

 the above volume is well calculated to fill. It is well writ- 

 ten, and treats the subject with a downright earnestnesc, 

 which indicates that the authors have the interest of their 

 readers truly at heart. While particular attention is paid to 

 the house and its details, all the accessories of the home 

 receive a due share of attention ; and that portion of the vol- 

 ume devoted to the grounds and garden will be found to be 

 one of its most interesting features, as it ought to be. The 

 work is handsomely printed, and the engravings are in the 

 best style of art. The plans and elevations are admirable of 



