British Works. 175 



- " The professional gardener and practical floriculturist are alike cautioned 

 against expecting much more information from the following pages than, it is 

 presumed, they already possess. The intentions of the author are more 

 humble ; but he fondly trusts his exertions will not prove the less useful, his 

 principal aim being to convey, in a comprehensive and cheap form, such a 

 portion of that knowledge those already possess, as will enable the villa 

 proprietor, cottager, and small garden occupier, to cultivate for their own 

 recreation the popular annuals, a tribe of flowers surpassed by no others in 

 the vegetable kingdom, for fragrance, diversity of form, or beauty and variety 

 of colouring properties, which are enhanced by the facility with which they 

 maybe grown, and the speedy return they yield to the careful cultivator; 

 for, while they may be procured for a trifling amount, they at the same 

 time require less attention than their more permanent congeners ; and, 

 instead of waiting seasons, the owner is rewarded for the little requisite 

 attention bestowed on them in a few weeks ; a period not only short, but 

 rendered still more so by the pleasure experienced in daily beholding and 

 contemplating their rapid progress, from the time their embryo leaves first 

 appear, to that stage of existence when the profusion and loveliness of their 

 bloom is sufficient to arrest attention, and call forth the admiration of the 

 most careless observer of nature's beauties." (Pre/.} 



The Bouquet, or Ladies' Floiuer-Garden, being a Description of those Plants 

 which will flower in the Room, and the Treatment most suitable for them. 

 By a Florist. Small 8vo, pp. 102. London, 1839. 



. A very good little work, so far as it goes. 



A Treatise on the Growth of Cucumbers and Melons, conjointly with that of 

 Asparagus, Mushrooms, Rhubarb, fyc. By John Smith, upwards of twenty- 

 four years Gardener to D. Alexander, Esq., of Ipswich. 4th edition, 

 improved and enlarged. Small 8vo, pp. 93. London, 1839. 



An improved edition of a work which we strongly recommended in a former 

 volume. 



A Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Melon. By John Duncan, Gardener 

 to Thomas Daniels, Esq., President of the Horticultural Society of Bristol, 

 1839. 8vo, pp. 1 10. London, 1839. 



The following extract from the introduction to this little volume shows the 

 author's intention in producing it; and we are much mistaken if this passage 

 does not lead to its purchase by all young men and amateurs desirous of bring- 

 ing that excellent fruit, the melon, to a high degree of perfection. What we 

 particularly admire in Mr. Duncan's system is its definiteness. He seems, in 

 short, to have done that for the melon which Mr. Hoare has done for the 

 grape. (See Vol. XL p. 674.) 



" I purpose directing the attention of the reader to a very simple and effi- 

 cient method of forming the fruiting-bed, upon the principle of moderating and 

 retaining its heat to a period much longer than is possible in any other luay. I 

 intend also to show the impropriety of having no determinate method in the 

 part of thinning and stopping the plants; as well as to prove it essential, that 

 a greater quantity of mould than is generally used is absolutely necessary for 

 the support and welfare of the plants, and ultimate perfection of the fruit. 

 From a deficiency in this last particular, arise some of the most fatal diseases 

 and total failures, as the roots, through this cause, too soon absorb the nutri- 

 ment contained in the little quantity of soil afforded ; and then, proceeding in 

 search of it, pass through into the dung, deriving from thence the nourishment 

 which ought to be contained in the soil, and which, by its crudeness and un- 

 wholesome nature, induces disease. The sap vessels become engorged with a 

 juice of too rich a nature, evidencing itself by the deep green of the leaves, and 

 the luxuriant appearance of the plants, so long as the process can be carried 

 on ; but a short time gives proof that it is too laborious to be continued ; 



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