704; Undlet/s Principles of Horticulture. 



ciples upon which its operations depend for success were 

 reduced to a series of simple laws, that could be readily borne 

 in mind by those who might not be willing to occupy them- 

 selves with the study, in detail, of the complicated phenomena 

 of vegetable life." This is perfectly obvious ; because, when 

 the principles of any science can be set forth in a few cogent 

 aphorisms, the whole is more readily comprehended, retained 

 in the memory, and applied, than if they were conveyed in a 

 lengthened train of words. It is not so, however, with the 

 rules of the art or practical operations of gardening. These 

 cannot be taught by axioms : as such they would be of little 

 use to the tyro, and therefore they are almost entirely omitted 

 in the work before us ; the author's design being only to mark 

 the principles of the science which connect the operations of 

 the gardener with the physiology and economy of plants, 



The book is composed of 369 paragraphs, each of which 

 contains some fact or principle, or some opinion. They are 

 well selected, and expressed with the author's usual ability : 

 the botanical distinctions are accurate, and the physiological 

 allusions generally correct. If there be any defects, they are 

 attributable only to the studied brevity and paucity of detail. 



Some parts, we must say, are enigmatical, and will only 

 serve to puzzle the practical man. For these defects, however, 

 the professor is scarcely accountable, because they are evi- 

 dently borrowed notions from our very first authorities, to 

 whom it is perfectly natural Mr. Lindley should be disposed 

 to pay some kind of deference, more especially as, during his 

 most active years, he has been more in the cabinet than in the 

 field, more in the " court than in camp." We do not mean 

 to infer that Mr. Lindley would surrender his own opinion 

 through sheer complaisance : but there are many things 

 in vegetable physiology that it is his duty to speak of, which 

 he has never had time to examine for himself. 



Those parts of the book that are, we think, problematical, and 

 which have a pretty strong hold on the public mind, as well as on 

 that of our author, cannot well be adverted to without leading 

 us into a much longer statement than may be necessary on the 

 present occasion ; but we would beg leave to recommend to 

 Mr. Lindley himself the reconsideration of a few of his repre- 

 sentations, viz., " the secretions which solidify the heart-wood 

 are communicated from the bark inwards." (p. 22.) Who has 

 detected this invisible process ? Some leaf-buds are said to 

 be " adventitious, and may be generated by sap in a state of 

 great accumulation and activity." (p. 29.) Is this possible ? " A 

 flower is in reality a stunted branch. 1 ' (p. 34.) Does not this 

 amount to a denial that the fructiferous organs have real 

 identity in the system, and to describing them as nothing more 

 than fortuitous associations of inferior appendages ? Are the 



