Catalogue of Works on Gardenhig^ &)C. 327 



Vegetable Physiology ; being Part of a Popular Cyclojicedia of Natural Science. 

 8vo, pp. 295, numerous woodcuts. London, 1841. 



This is the first of a series of volumes intended to be published on Natural 

 Science, by a " Society for the Promo'tion of Popular Instruction." The 

 Society " feel assured that it will be found sufficiently simple in its character, 

 and clear in its explanations, to be regarded as an elementary treatise, adapted 

 to those who have no previous knowledge of the subject ; whilst its sys- 

 tematic arrangement, and the scientific nature of the principles laid down in 

 it, render it an excellent introduction to more comprehensive works on the 

 same subject. The general reader, who seeks no more than entertainment or 

 recreation, will find it in this volume, in the copious illustrative facts and inte- 

 resting collateral information with which it abounds ; whilst to the agriculturist, 

 the gardener, and the domestic economist, it supplies principles and practical 

 applications of great importance." Contents. Introduction. Chap. i. Of the 

 General Character of Living Beings, and the Distinction between Animals and 

 Vegetables. Chap. ii. General View of the Vegetable Kingdom- Chap. in. 

 Of the Elementary Structure of Plants. Chap. iv. Of the Structure and 

 Functions of the Roots. Chap. v. Of the Structure and Functions of the 

 Stem. Chap. vi. Of the Food of Plants, and the Manner in which it is ob- 

 tained. Chap. VII. On the Structure of Leaves. Chap. viii. Of the Functions 

 of the Leaves. Chap. ix. General View of the Nutritive Powers in Plants. 

 Chap. X. Of the Secretions of Plants. Chap. xi. Of the Production of 

 Light, Heat, and Electricity by Plants — Motions of Plants. Chap. xii. 

 Of the Reproduction of Plants. The work is creditably executed, and very 

 cheap. 



A Treatise on the Cultivation of the Cucumber in Pots, so as to produce Cucumbers 

 every Day in the Year, with less Trouble, more Certainty, and less Expense, 

 than by any other System hitherto published ; also in Pits, on Dung Beds, in 

 the open Garden, and on Balconies and Walls ; to which are added, DirectioJis 

 for growing Cucumbers for Seed, the Destruction of Insects, the Cure of Dis- 

 eases, and a List of the most esteemed Varieties of Cucumber for Prize Culture . 

 By W. P. Ayres, Gardener to John Dobede, Esq., Isham Place, Cambridge- 

 shire. 12mo, pp. 46. London, 1841. 



This is the third treatise on the culture of the cucumber which we have had 

 to record since the commencement of our present volume. We first noticed 

 the work of Mr. Mills, p. 229 ; next that of Mr. Duncan, p. 274. ; and re- 

 commended it as treating the subject in a different manner from Mr. Mills, 

 and for the same reason we must now recommend the treatise of Mr. Ayres, 

 for it is quite different from either. Mr. Ayres grows his winter cucumbers 

 not in pits or frames, but in low houses with steep roofs ; a much more agree- 

 able mode for the amateur than dung beds, and not less suitable for the 

 professional gardener, for Mr, Ayres's father practised it upwards of thirty 

 years. 



A Selection from the Physiological and Horticultural Papers published in the 

 " Transactions of the Royal and Horticultural Societies" by the late Thomas 

 Andreiv Knight, Esq., President of the Horticultural Society of London, 

 S^c. S^c. To which is prefixed a Sketch of his Life. Royal 8vo, pp. 379, 

 plates and woodcuts, London, 1841. 



Mr, Knight is unquestionably the father of the horticultural science of Enfi 

 land, as Du Hamel may well be said to be of that of France, The proof of 

 this is to be found, in both countries, in the gardening publications that 

 existed previously to the Physique des Arbres which appeared in 1758, and 

 Mr. Knight's papers which were published in the Royal Society's Transactions 

 in the beginning of the present century. The best previous works on garden- 

 ing in Europe were those of La Quintinie in France, and Miller in England ; 

 and these may be considered at best as only rationally empirical. 



