Book Reviews. 



137 



have never cached any provisions, nor looked into the vast 

 recesses of a crevasse, nor contemplated a couloir. This perhaps 

 betrays the attitude of a recent convert to Alpine recreation. 

 One of the most interesting chapters is that devoted to Lake 

 Louise. There are some most excellent photographs of that 

 lovely lake and descriptions of climbs made in its vicinity, which 

 make one long for an opportunity to camp there and explore its 

 neighborhood. The first ascents, which indeed comprise nearly 

 the whole book, are given with a good deal of detail and convey 

 much useful information to the would-be chmber of these moun- 

 tains. For this reason Mr. Outram has made a valuable contribu- 

 tion to alpine literature. So far as the Selkirk Range is con- 

 cerned, however, his maps are superseded by those just completed 

 by the Topographic Survey under the auspices of the Dominion 

 Government. E. M. B. 



"The Garden Book ^^'^ delightful, as well as practical, is the 

 r , -r rT^r^r.^.^ . " GaTcien Book of California, by Belle Sum- 



OF v^ALIrORNIA. 



ner Angier. It is an artistic little volume, 

 illustrated with photographs of suggestive features of the most 

 attractive California gardens. Its message is more particularly 

 for the amateur, and it is written with especial consideration of 

 Cahfornia climatic conditions. Very valuable are the hints on 

 irrigation, the preparation of soil for planting, the gathering and 

 preservation of seeds, the transplanting of seedlings, and the 

 destruction of insects. Besides these more general features of 

 gardening, the book deals with special problems, such as rose 

 culture, ferns and ferneries, the cultivation of native flowers and 

 shrubs, back-yard problems, and, most alluring of all perhaps, out- 

 of-door living-rooms. The book, published by Paul Elder and 

 Company, and very prettily decorated by Spencer Wright, seems 

 to fill a long-felt need of the amateur gardener, M. R, 



The National Geographic Magazine for December contains a 

 brief article by Edwin Swift Balch on "Highest Camps and 

 Climbs." He compares the achievements of T. G. Longstaff 

 and W. W. Graham, and concludes by saying that "to any one 

 who will look at the facts intelligently and without prejudice, 

 there can be no doubt that Dr. Longstaff has made the highest 

 camp (23,000 ft.) and the second highest ascent, and that to Mr, 

 Graham still belongs the coveted honor of the record ascent 

 (24,015 ft.)." The reviewer has added the probable altitudes in 

 the quotation just given. Since Mr. Longstaff reached an alti- 



* The Garden Book of California. By Belle Sumner Angier. Paul 

 Elder and Company, San Francisco. 



