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Tde GARDEN 



MAGAZINE 



GUIDE TO GAFLDEN 

 BOOICS 



WHEN the war garden movement 

 got under way last year there also 

 was born a demand for practical 

 manuals of instruction for the 

 uninitiated as well as for those who, though 

 not entirely new to the art of gardening, yet 

 were not adepts in the refinements of manage- 

 ment, intercropping and succession plantings, 

 to say nothing of masterful manipulation of 

 the available space. It was but the natural 

 course of events that led to the appearance 

 of several books by different publishers this 

 spring, each one designed to be the last 

 word in meeting the situation so that the 

 amateur gardener is now landed at the other 

 extreme of his difficulty — last year practically 

 nothing available; this year an abundance, 

 among which choice is difficult. Not all the 

 books that have been brought into the public 

 eye at this time are really new and some 

 indeed are quite old — merely new titles to 

 " get a ride" on the popular wave. In the ten 

 or a dozen books that are offered for approval, 

 each one has its individuality, however, and 

 each one has certain elements of merit. The 

 book that w : " best suit the individual will 

 depend entirely on what that individual's 

 previous knowledge and experience have been, 

 as well as present requirements. The home 

 gardener who wishes to confine his attention 

 strictly to intensive food production is catered 

 to very definitely in the newer books. 



"Everyman's Garden In War Time," 1 by 

 Charles A. Seldon, one of the "resurrections," 

 was formerly entitled "Everyman's Garden 

 Every Week" and is a reliable manual on 

 general garden practice, and follows the 

 calendar week by week in outlining the period- 

 ical activities. This is supplemented by a 

 condensed calendar of operations. 



Somewhat similar in scope, but more com- 

 prehensive and new, is Mr. Rockwell's "Around 

 the Year in the Garden," 2 which has the pe- 

 culiar merit of not only stating what should be 

 done but taking time to explain the reason 

 behind the action. It is one of the best 

 rounded out, general handbooks of the all 

 round garden that has come from the press. 

 Mr. Rockwell's writings in part are by no 

 means unfamiliar to the readers of The 

 Garden Magazine and the material that has 

 previously appeared in these columns has been 

 freely drawn upon in making this book. 



Less bulky and perhaps more direct in its 

 point of view, is Frances Duncan's "Home 

 Vegetables and Small Fruits," 3 which has been 

 written with a definite idea of meeting the 

 requirements of the times. It assumes the 

 possession of a small garden and the desire to 

 make it as useful as possible while still re- 

 taining the element of beauty. It approaches 

 the problem with a sense of friendship and 

 companionship with which the reader is car- 



Everyman's Garden in War Time by Chas. A. Seldon. 

 pp. xiv + 338 including index. Cloth, 5x7} in. Price, 

 $1.35. (New York. Dodd, Mead & Co.) 



2 Around the Year in the Garden by F. F. Rockwell, 

 pp. xx + 350 including index. Cloth, six 7 J in. Illustrated by 

 halftone inserts. Price, jSl.75. (New York, The Macmillan 

 Co.) 



'Home Vegetables and Small Fruits; Their Culture and 

 Preservation, by Frances Duncan, pp. xiv + 184 and index. 

 Cloth, 5 x 7i in. Illustrated with halftone inserts and 

 drawings in text. Price, $1.40. (New York, Chas. Scrib- 

 ner's Sons). 



ried through from the simple elements to the 

 growing, handling, drying, canning and pre- 

 serving of the harvest. A good word is found 

 for dwarf fruit trees, and the plans for com- 

 bination and succession plantings will appeal 

 to the suburban gardener with a 30 x 40 

 garden plot. Exception might be taken to 

 some of the suggested "trick" methods of 

 cultivation, which, though not recommended 

 by the author, are submitted as possibilities 

 for consideration. But then many people 

 like to play these little experiments. Alto- 

 gether Miss Duncan's book accomplishes a 

 great deal for its size, and always has the view- 

 point of the householder. 



"Home Gardening — Vegetables and Flow- 

 ers'" by Benjamin F. Albaugh, originally 

 published a few years ago as "The Garden- 

 ette," is an appeal to expand on a pet hobby 

 of the author, and exploits a peculiar practice 

 cf gardening woven around the "sandwich 

 system." Instead of laboriously digging the 

 ground, build your garden on top of the 

 ground! Put down a layer of straw or 

 strawey manure, to any desired depth, and 

 cover this with a layer of soil. Of course, 

 there must be boards to hold the beds and the 

 availability of ample manure or straw is ab- 

 solutely essential. When in doubt which sorts 

 to recommend, the book confines itself to the 

 best or most popular — a safe course to pursue. 

 Ninety-four of the one hundred and thirty- 

 eight pages are devoted to vegetables. Sowing 

 and planting tables are included, as is a glos- 

 sary of garden terms not readily understood 

 by the newcomer. 



"Garden Steps," 2 by Ernest Cobb, frankly 

 described as a "manual on vegetable garden- 

 ing for the amateur," definitely confines 

 itself to the field of school and home garden. 

 It deals, in systematic fashion, with all the 

 essentials of vegetable gardening, resorting 

 to occasional illustrations which are designed 

 to stimulate popular interest rather than to 

 illustrate a certain point. The different 

 classes of vegetables are treated in alphabet- 

 ical order and each chapter tells sufficient 

 for the amateur to make his garden efforts 

 productive. 



The real vegetable gardener who wants 

 the best that a fertile soil and skillful manage- 

 ment can produce will turn to Mr. Adolph 

 Kruhm's "Home Vegetable Gardening From 

 A to Z." 3 The book is constructed on a 

 novel plan — half of every page is an illustra- 

 tion that elucidates the accompanying text, 

 and each page is given to an individual topic. 

 Accompanying these are a number of pages 

 with color plates of typical vegetables and 

 discussions of the comparative merits of the 

 better types and strains. Specific informa- 

 tion about varietal behavior sparkles all 

 through the text, and the steps of progress in 

 handling the soil and the crop from spring to 



'Home Gardening — Vegetables and Flowers by Ben- 

 jamin F. Albaugh. pp. 138 including index. Cloth, 7«x5< 

 in. Illustrated by halftone inserts. Price, 6oc. (New York, 

 Grossett & Dunlap). 



2 Garden Steps by Ernest Cobb. pp. 226, halftone illustra- 

 tions in the text. Cloth, 4J x 7 in. Price, 60c. (Boston, 

 Silver, Burdett & Co.). 



3 Home Vegetable Gardening by Adolph Kruhm. pp. vi 

 + 289, and index. Cloth, \\ x 71 in. Profusely illustrated 

 with halftones in text and 32 color plates. Price, jSl.25. (Gar- 

 den City, Doubleday, Page & Co.). 



196 



fall are detailed one by one, and each in turn. 

 The real service that "Home Vegetable Gar- 

 dening" will render is in making it possible 

 for the tyro in gardening to work with the 

 same precision as regards crop development 

 as does the expert seedsman. The author, 

 trained as a seedsman, takes the reader into 

 his confidence professionally. 



"The Backyard Garden," 1 by Edward I. 

 Farrington, meets as nearly as any book can, 

 within the limits of 190 small pages, the 

 needs of the beginner striving to avoid the 

 many pitfalls to his enthusiasm which every 

 first garden is bound to put in its maker's 

 path. At the same time, it gives such concise 

 directions regarding many advanced methods 

 of gardening that it will prove a valuable 

 addition to any home gardener's reference 

 library. Those in charge of school and 

 community gardening will appreciate the 

 volume for its practical classification of the 

 different vegetables. There is not a single 

 impractical piece of advice in any of its 

 chapters. Thoroughly indexed and bound in 

 waterproof covers. 



"School and Home Gardening," 2 by Kary 

 C. Davis, is preeminently a book by a teacher 

 for teachers or others in need of a dependable 

 adviser for guiding any gardening efforts in 

 the right directions. Within its 350 pages it 

 endeavors to cover the whole subject, from 

 vegetables and flowers to shrubs and trees- 

 Like other books intended primarily for school 

 use, it abounds with suggestions for practical 

 demonstrations and exercises, all of which are 

 useful in getting the pupil to understand the 

 fundamental principles of gardening. There 

 are many helpful tables, calendars, etc., 

 which, however, would hardly stimulate the 

 average boy, girl or grown-up to go out and dig, 

 rake, and sow seeds. The educators of the 

 country will find it a splendid garden primer, 

 talking, as it does, in the authoritative 

 language that teachers use and value. 



The Patriot's Edition of "The Home 

 Garden," 3 by the late Eben E. Rexford, is 

 one of the many books of this popular writer 

 which, in their day did much in moulding 

 opinion on gardening. Written in easily 

 understood, practical language, "The Home 

 Garden" still serves the purpose for which it 

 was written, viz., to stimulate interest in the 

 making of food gardens, including berry patches 

 and small fruit plantations. Some of its 9-year- 

 -old advice, however, is in need of revision in 

 the light of more recent developments. 



If there could be such a thing as any one 



book being the best on a subject, that verdict 



might reasonably be accorded to Professor 



Findlay's " Practical Gardening," 4 the most 



{Continued on page ig8) 



1 The Backyard Garden by Edward I. Farrington. pp. 

 x + 191 including index. Cloth, 4! X 7$. Illustrated by half- 

 tone inserts. Price, $1.00. (Chicago, Laird & Lee.) 



2 School and Home Gardening by Kary C. Davis, pp. 

 xvii + 353 including index. Cloth, si x 7! in. Profusely 

 illustrated with halftone inserts in the text. Price, $1.28 net. 

 (Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott.) 



'The Home Garden bv Eben E. Rexford. pp. 2Ckd, includ- 

 ing index. Cloth, 5$ x ■?', in. Illustrated by halftone inserts. 

 Price, #1.25 net. (Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott.) 



^Practical Gardening by Hugh Findlay. PP- vii + 388 

 including index. Cloth, s\ * 8J in. Profusely illustrated with 

 halftone inserts and drawings in text. Price, $2.00 net. (New 

 York, D. Appleton & Co.) 



