5i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 514. 



the study of insects have been kept constantly in mind. 

 Although carefully adapted to the teaching of children, the 

 book is intended for adults as well, and it would be hard 

 to find a better introduction to entomology. The treatment 

 of the subject results from the extensive experience of the 

 author in teaching, and commends itself by constantly in- 

 ducing personal observation, the development of this habit 

 being one of the greatest benefits derived from such study. 

 Part i. outlines a course of study, beginning with a series 

 of carefully graded lessons based on material easily ob- 

 tained in any part of the country, a locust being selected 

 for the study of the parts of the body. After this knowl- 

 edge has been acquired the student begins out-of-door 

 study, and is taught about the metamorphoses of insects. 

 The classification of insects and their near relations is then 

 considered, and is treated in a concise and effective way ; 

 indeed, it would be hard to find a clearer exposition of the 

 subject. A series of chapters follows on pond-life, brook- 

 life, orchard-life, forest-life and roadside-life, in which 

 typical insects in all the orders are taken up and treated in 

 a simple and clear manner wholly admirable. These 

 chapters are profusely illustrated with wood-cuts of the 

 highest class, the figures (by Mrs. Comstock) being, in fact, 

 one of the notable features of the work. Part ii. treats of the 

 collection and preservation of specimens, and gives com- 

 plete directions how and when to collect, how to preserve 

 and label, and as to the different methods of breeding in- 

 sects in confinement. The closing chapter is devoted to a 

 list of some of the most useful books for beginners in 

 entomology. 



In every way the book seems to us praiseworthy and a 

 fitting companion to the author's Manual for the Study of 

 Insects. 



Bird-Life a Guide to the Study of Common Birds. By 

 Frank M. Chapman. New York : Appleton & Co. 1897. 



The success achieved by the Handbook of Birds of Eastern 

 North America leads one to expect much pleasure from the 

 examination of another book by the same author, and this 

 expectation is fully realized in the case of the volume 

 before us. Beautifully printed, and illustrated by so com- 

 petent an artist as Mr. E. S. Thompson, it appeals at once 

 to the eye, and the worthiness of this appeal is confirmed 

 by a study of the contents. The care and thought bestowed 

 on its planning and execution have resulted in one of the 

 best text-books ever published on that most fascinating 

 department of Natural History — bird-life. Ornithology in 

 this country has a record of which we may be proud 

 indeed. Raised at once to the highest excellence by the 

 genius of Wilson and Audubon, it has found worthy fol- 

 lowers down to the present day, who have maintained the 

 high standard set by them. 



The steadily increasing interest in the purely popular 

 side of the subject has been ably met by the publication of 

 such books as the one under consideration. These books 

 deserve the highest praise in giving to the public with 

 absolute accuracy the results of the latest scientific knowl- 

 edge. To present such knowledge in well-ordered form is 

 a task of no little magnitude, and when, as in this instance, 

 it is conscientiously performed, it deserves our sincere 

 applause. The book is not addressed to professional orni- 

 thologists, but to those who desire a general knowledge of 

 bird-life and some acquaintance with our commoner birds. 

 The earlier chapters deal with the place of birds in Nature 

 and their relation to man, and outline the leading facts in 

 their life-histories. The concluding chapters describe 100 

 or more of the more familiar species of eastern North 

 America and give figures of most of them, many of these 

 ranking among the best bird portraits we have. Such 

 figures as the downy woodpecker, phcebe, field sparrow 

 and veery are exquisite. Throughout the volume there is 

 everywhere evidence of care and judgment, and the reader 

 is impressed on every page by its trustworthiness. In 

 short, the merits of the book are of the highest order. 



Notes. 



The American Forestry Association will hold a popular 

 meeting at Tampa, Florida, in February. Dr. B. E. Fernow, 

 Chief of the Division of Forestry, will deliver an address on 

 National Forest Reservations and Their Management. 



From the recent report of the Parks Committee of the 

 London County Council it appears that 208 open spaces, each 

 less than ten acres in extent, with an aggregate area of 366^ 

 acres, are now open in London for the enjoyment of the public. 



Mr. Horatio N. Rust, of South Pasadena, California, reports an 

 interesting case of the effects of natural root-grattingnoiiced by 

 him on the Sierra Madre Mountains, where he has found that 

 a stump of a tree of Pseudotsuga macrocarpa a foot in diame- 

 ter, and cut down about thirty years ago, has continued to live 

 and that a layer of wood and bark has formed over the entire 

 top without the assistance of leaves from the stump itself. 



By act of Legislature of the state of New York the College of 

 Agriculture of Cornell University is empowered to conduct 

 University Extension work in agriculture in this state. Scien- 

 tific knowledge effecting practical agriculture is thus brought 

 into the farmer's home in a popular and reliable form. A class 

 which now numbers several hundreds is engaged in a course 

 of reading in some of the fundamental principles of agricul- 

 ture. Those wishing to join the class should address Professor 

 I. P. Roberts, at Ithaca, New York. Printed matter for study 

 is sent to applicants free of charge. 



A correspondent sends us a beautiful photograph of Rhodo- 

 dendron Catawbiense at Balinie, Scotland, described as being 

 over twenty feet in height with a spread ot branches, which 

 rest on the ground, 172 feet in circumference. This remarka- 

 ble plant is about 100 years old and in still vigorous health, as 

 is shown by the thousands of flower-clusters with which it was 

 covered when the photograph was taken. This must be one 

 of the oldest specimens of Rhododendron Catawbiense in 

 Europe, and it is particularly interesting because it has grown 

 to a size many times larger than this species ever attains on the 

 mountains of Tennessee and Carolina, which are its natural 

 home. 



In the Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 

 (third series, vol. i., part 2) Miss Alice Eastwood, curator of the 

 herbarium of the Academy, distinguishes and figures under 

 the name of Iris Purdii the beautiful Iris common in the Red- 

 wood region of Mendocino County, which has heretofore been 

 confounded with Iris Douglasiana, which it resembles in its 

 narrow red-based lanceolate spreading leaves and cream- 

 colored flowers. From that species, however, it differs in its 

 larger flowers, in its lighter green, less distinctly nerved, stiffer 

 and often glaucous leaves, broader stamens and shorter.broader 

 capsules. This Iris, which we believe has been successfully 

 flowered by Max Leichtlin in his garden at Baden-Baden, is 

 named in honor of our correspondent, Carl Purdy, of Ukiah, 

 who first noticed and called attention to its peculiar character- 

 istics. 



With the present issue, which completes the tenth volume, 

 the publication of Garden and Forest ends. For ten years 

 the experimenthasbeen tried of publishing a weekly journal 

 devoted to horticulture and forestry, absolutely free from 

 all trade influences, and as good as it has been possible 

 for us to make it. This experiment, which has cost a large 

 amount of time and money, has shown conclusively that 

 there are not persons enough in the United States inter- 

 ested in the subjects which have been presented in the 

 columns of Garden and Forest to make a journal of its 

 class and character self-supporting. It is useless to 

 expend more time and money on a publication which can- 

 not be made financially successful, and must, therefore, 

 sooner or later cease to exist. 



Mr. J. H. Griffith, room 106, Tribune Building, New York, 

 is authorized to receive money due to the Company, and to 

 attend to any other business matters which may arise in 

 winding up its affairs. 



Garden and Forest Publishing Co. 



