2l8 



NA rURE 



[January 9, 1908 



laid out with suitable paths about forty years ago by 

 the late Ralph Sneyd, uncle to the present owner of 

 the estate. 



The idea in carrying out such worlt should be that 

 of bringing the most picturesque portions of the 

 wood into view, and the paths should be arranged 

 accordingly. It would be contrary to the spirit of the 

 thing to try and makej the woodlands a kind of pleasure- 

 ground, for the woods are capable of yielding effects 

 perfectly distinct from those which may be obtained 

 from a pleasure-ground. No great amount of plant- 

 ing need be done, but by this statement we do not 

 mean that regard for a supposed principle need pre- 

 vent one from planting decorative shrubs, trees, or 

 bulbs in positions where suitable sites are available 

 for them, and the effect can thereby be greatly im- 

 proved. In many situations where close planting has 

 caused trees to develop fine, straight stems or trunks, 

 there is no need for any under-shrub to complete the 

 scene, for the lover of trees will have his delight in 

 viewing the magnificent stems, often devoid of 

 branches for twenty, or even thirty, feet from the 

 ground. 



But it is necessary, for change of scene, that in 

 some places there should be a dense undergrowth of 

 an evergreen shrub, such as the rhododendron, which 

 is capable of thriving and even flowering well in com- 

 parative shade. The author of the present work 

 rightly insists on the necessity of obtaining rhododen- 

 drons on their own roots for woodland planting, as 

 they arc usually capable of succeeding better than 

 grafted plants, especially if the grafts have been 

 worked on stocks of R. ponticum. Many gardeners 

 have the idea that the old and somewhat unattractive 

 R. ponticum is the hardiest of all rhododendrons, but 

 this is erroneous. .Some of the North .American kinds 

 are much hardier, and their effect when in flower is 

 brilliant. Mr. Robinson specially recommends a 

 variety known as "Cunningham's White," a most 

 hardy plant of vigorous constitution, and bearing 

 flowers of a rosy-lilac colour in bud, gradually becom- 

 ing paler as the flowers expand. Other suitable 

 species for forming undergrowth of a similar nature 

 would include Bcrbcris aquifolium (the evergreen 

 barberry), Ligustrmn ovalifoliiim (common privet), 

 Laurus nohilis, Gatiltheria Shallon, species of Hedera 

 (ivy), Bambu.sa species, also common briars, bracken 

 and furze, &c. 



When once the owner of a wood, however, deter- 

 mines to make it accessible and attractive, he will 

 soon discover various ways in which the views from 

 the paths may be improved without interfering with 

 the character of the wood itself. The sides of the 

 paths can easily be planted with attractive, low- 

 growing shrubs, and the scope for securing spring 

 effects from flowering bulbs will be almost infinite. 

 The bulbs from the forcing houses need never be 

 thrown away, for suitable situations for them will 

 present themselves in numerous instances, and snow- 

 drops, crocuses, bluebells, and even the cheery Hide 

 cyclamens may be planted in thousands. 



The author reproduces two chapters from " The 

 English Flower Garden," and then in subsecjueiit 

 chapters goes on to deal with the evergreen and de- 

 NO. 1993, VOL. 77] 



ciduous trees of the northern forest, the best of native 

 and European trees for the British Isles, how to pro- 

 duce wood and covert from seeds, and many other 

 details connected with the subject, there being in all 

 thirty-three chapters. We cannot agree with the sug- 

 gestion on p. 76 that trees growing in isolated 

 positions on lawns have their roots robbed by the 

 grasses ! in anything like the measure that obtains 

 when the trees are growing together in a plantation. 

 Mr Robinson's plea for the use of English names 

 in garden literature we regard as unfortunate, unless 

 the botanical names are employed also, as the use of 

 popular names alone usually leads to the greatest 

 confusion. 



WATER SUPPLY. 

 Clean Water and Hoiu to Get It. By .Mien Hagen. 

 Pp. x-t-178; illustrated. (New York: John Wiley 

 and Sons; London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1907.) 

 Price 6s. 6d. net. 



THERE is probably no engineering topic at the 

 present day of more striking importance to the 

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.■\nv publication, tlierefore, which tends to throw 

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Written exclusively from an American standpoint 

 and based entirely on American practice, it is difficult 

 on this side of the .Atlantic to offer very effective 

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