THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



117 



''The Book of Hardy Flowers'' by H. H. Thomas, comes 

 very near reahzing the gardener's ideal of a complete book of 

 information about plants. It is really a dictionary in which 

 the plants are arranged alphabetically, followed by notes 

 which give a description of the plants, the extent of the genus, 

 time of flowering, color of the flowers, the soil and exposure 

 favored, whether hardy or tender, annual or perennial, the 

 pruning required, methods of propagation and similar matters. 

 All the desirable varieties in cultivation are noted. To con- 

 tain this information nearly 500 pages are required. There 

 are also 64 plates in black and white and 32 others reproduced 

 by direct color photography. The book, like so many other 

 good things in gardening, comes from England, and this must 

 be kept in mind when such subjects as hardiness and exposure 

 are mentioned. Many things hardy in Great Britain are not 

 hardy in our Northern States. It is also doubtless owing to 

 British influence that the term ''Natural Order" is used for 

 what we in America know as a plant family — the Liliaceae, 

 for example. The book should form part of the foundation 

 of every good gardener's library. AA'e do not know of a more 

 useful amount of information anywhere. The book is pub- 

 lished in this country by Funk and \\'agnalls. New York, at 

 $3.50 net. 



Directions for the study of horticulture by the laboratory 

 method are still among the rarities, and in consequence George 

 W. Hood's "Laboratory ^Manual of Horticulture" published by 

 Ginn & Co., should flnd an appreciative audience. While the 

 number and extent of the exercises outlined will doubtless pre- 

 vent the use of the book entire, the wide awake teacher will 

 find a considerable number that can be made a part of even 

 high school courses. The last forty exercises, dealing with 

 studies of individual fruits impress us as scarcely worth while 

 in studies of this kind. There are numerous good illustrations 

 and an adequate glossary. The book costs $1.00. 



