BOOKS CURRENT AND STANDARD 



LUCY EMBURY HUBBELL 



IVERY intelligent gardener is a reader of books, for the 

 Hjr-rlf obvious reason that, if genuinely interested, he is on 

 • the alert to discover what his fellow craftsmen are 

 thinking and doing. It is only the dull and unimagina- 

 tive who fails to learn from the recorded experience of others. 



Of course, nothing can take the place of first-hand knowledge, 

 and reading is not meant as a substitute but as a supplement. 

 Life does not hold hours enough or opportunity for any in- 

 dividual to test out for himself the multiple phases of horticul- 

 ture; he must build upon the ventures and successes of garden- 

 ers the world over through many generations — all progress 

 springs out of such cooperation. 



Gardening literature may, to facilitate discussion, be roughly 

 subdivided into four groups: 



I. Books inspirational and suggestive rather than direct 



or concrete. 

 II. Practical handbooks of specialized interest. 



III. Cyclopedias for reference. 



IV. Descriptive accounts (scientifically accurate, but not 



necessarily technical in character.) 



Generally speaking those of Groups I and III well serve the 

 needs of Garden Clubs whose members require occasional heart- 

 ening and an easy access to information of many sorts. The 

 grower of Gladiolus, on the other hand, or the seeker after native 

 flowers turns naturally to Group II for help; and the student 

 (whether gardener or not) with a penchant for delving into the 

 origin of things, their significance and fitness, finds satisfac- 

 tion in books of the type of Group IV. 



An up-to-date library seems an indispensable part of the equip- 

 ment of any active Garden Club — which is to say of every 

 Garden Club, for an inactive organization has really no reason 

 for continued existence. At least one member or, better still, 

 a committee of three could very pleasurably obligate them- 

 selves to keep in touch with current garden literature, report- 

 ing on it at club meetings from time to time with recommenda- 

 tions for any acquisitions deemed desirable. If not already 

 familiar with the good standard works which form the nucleus 

 of any useful collection of this character, the Committee on 

 Books must obviously make a knowledge of these their first 

 undertaking; and the more limited bookshelf demands especially 

 careful consideration. 



BECAUSE nothing in nature is ever final, garden happen- 

 ings must every so often be brought up-to-date. 



To have at hand in compact, get-at-able form under one 

 cover, information so fundamental and so diversified as that 

 found in Albert D. Taylor's "The Complete Garden" (Double- 

 day, Page & Co., March, 1921) is rare good fortune. 



The book was built up in response to the very real and often 

 iterated demand which Mr. Taylor met both in his field work 

 as practising landscapist and in his class work as Professor of 

 Landscape Architecture at Ohio State University. 



The system of classification is logical, pertinent, and readily 

 followed. Part I, General Planting Suggestions, holds answer 

 to the ever recurring questions of how and when to sow, prune, 

 mulch, transplant, and innumerable other queries which trouble 

 the uninitiate, and often the seasoned gardener as well. 



The major portion of the volume (Part II, Lists for Reference) 

 is given over to plant materials for every conceivable use and in 

 all sorts of combinations. The lover of birds, for example, 

 finds in concise form (pages 164-167) exactly what shrubs en- 

 courage feathered visitors to come and feast, and why. Estate 

 owners who go in for game will be glad of the listed Game Cover 

 Plants, and the city apartment dweller may learn what lives 

 most happily in window-box and hanging basket. " Street and 



Avenue Planting," " Trees and Shrubs for Seaside Planting," 

 "Perennials for Different Purposes," "Tulip Combinations," 

 " Plants for Florida " — these headings selected at random give 

 some hint of the diversity of subject matter treated in this 

 reference manual which, in scope and thoroughness, fully justi- 

 fies its title. A uniquely serviceable volume, "The Complete 

 Garden" solves the riddle for most of us and furnishes a sound 

 backbone for any shelf of garden books. 



MRS. KING has a way of dangling allurements that sets the 

 most slothful of gardeners in his slackest midsummer mood 

 afidget in his chair and his fingers itching for a trowel. " Pages 

 From a Garden Note-book," a recent Scribner publication, 

 worthily succeeds her earlier volume: "The Well-considered 

 Garden." Every club has some lagging members who require 

 periodic injections of enthusiasm and, for that matter, none of 

 us can afford to miss a chance at any sort of fresh inspiration. 



AMONG newer practical handbooks of specialized interest is 

 L Miss Alice O. Albertson's " Nantucket Wild Flowers," put 

 out this spring by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Because of its com- 

 parative isolation, thirty miles at sea, the flora of Nantucket 

 remains singularly free from the influences of outside infiltration, 

 and is, in consequence, a somewhat unique and especially seduc- 

 tive subject for study. The book is very simply and clearly ar- 

 ranged and thoroughly illustrated with easily analyzed sketches 

 by Miss Anne Hinchman. The derivation and significance of the 

 technical names of the various plants is briefly suggested in 

 a manner which fills them with meaning for the tyro too indolent 

 to do much digging among ancient languages on his own account. 



EVERY great movement has its history and horticulture is no 

 exception. The literature of gardening, commonly domi- 

 nated by the practical, has also its lyric mood. No one of sensi- 

 tive insight can have continued traffic with growing things and 

 fail to perceive their wonder and significance; the life of man 

 and of the plant world about him are so indubitably one. 



This truth has been forcibly brought home to us during 

 recent years by a series of writings from the lucid and veracious 

 pen of Ernest H. Wilson, Assistant Director of the Arnold 

 Arboretum. His latest work, "The Romance of Our Trees" 

 (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1920,) ranks supreme among garden 

 classics and has a value and an interest quite independent of 

 time. The various Chapters are amplified from the series of 

 articles recently published in The Garden Magazine. 



Scientifically accurate, but not at all technical or labored in 

 manner, this book has strong appeal for investigating minds 

 not content with the mere surface of things. The student of 

 past ages, the poet, the scientist, the lover of folk lore will, each 

 and all, find fascinating echoes ringing through the story of our 

 trees from earliest times. 



Striking testimony of the interdependence of all life is come 

 upon in Mr. Wilson's accounts of how the Ginkgo has con- 

 tinued to exist through centuries in practically unchanged form 

 because of the protective influence of Buddhism, and how the 

 Cedar of Lebanon owes its continued being to Christian worship- 

 pers who cherished it for religious reasons. Wars and migratory 

 movements, too, played a great part in the distribution of 

 plants — the Pilgrim fathers contributed more than convictions 

 to the upbuilding of this new land; we owe them thanks for the 

 delicious New England Apple! 



The beauty of trees at all seasons and their use as an integral 

 part of every real "garden" in its wider and true sense, their 

 economic value, their spiritual significance — these are things 

 we are just beginning to learn and for which Mr. Wilson's book 

 awakens vivid appreciation. 



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