260 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



devices with which they are furnished. The well-written text, clearly 

 and well printed, is helped out by series of excellent plates, among 

 which are some remarkably good examples of colour-printing. 



" Flowerless Plants : how and where they grow." By S. L. 

 Bastin. 8vo., xi -f 152 pp. (Cassell, London, 1913.) 6s. net. 



There are several popular books dealing particularly with ferns 

 and the larger fungi, but mosses and liverworts are generally left out 

 entirely, and algae and lichens even more often. The present book 

 supplies this deficiency, and includes notes on fungi and ferns as well. 

 Numerous half-tone and four coloured plates accompany the text. 



" The Propagation and Pruning of Hardy Trees, Shrubs, and 

 Miscellaneous Plants." By J. C. Newsham, F.L.S. 8vo., xiv -f 

 224 pp. (Crosby Lockwood, London, 1913.) 65. net. 



Plant physiology forms the text of the opening chapter of this 

 well-illustrated book. It is a pity, however, that the illustrations 

 are so far removed from the text to which they apply. The general 

 physiology is dealt with briefly and accurately, but not always clearly. 

 The use of shorter sentences (we counted one hundred words in one) 

 would have tended to greater lucidity. The same remark applies 

 to other parts of the book. There is a general looseness of expression, 

 as though the writer were in haste, and as a consequence the meaning 

 intended is often difficult to apprehend. Two examples of this will 

 suffice : " The planting of apple trees, although meriting considerable 

 care, is often carried out on too lavish a scale, particularly where a few 

 trees are being dealt with ; if the simple rules as given on page 65 are 

 adhered to, this is all that is necessary" (p. 90). (There are no 

 rules, by the way, on p. 65.) Again, on p. 91 we read : " Excessive 

 or close pruning has been overestimated, and exaggerated in many 

 instances, principally due to the lack of experience on the part of 

 some enthusiastic writers on the subject." 



Surely, in these days when there are already books on every subject, 

 there is no need for great haste and slovenly writing in bringing out a 

 book of this kind, conceived as it has been on such excellent lines. 



Nothing but hasty preparation can account for the curious selection 

 of special examples of trees and shrubs with the propagation of which 

 the last part of the book deals. We find Lindera but not Lavandula, 

 Southernwood but not Rosemary, Leucothoe but not Zenobia. There 

 is rather more than the usual crop of wrong spellings of plant names. 

 Plantanus, Liriodendrum, Madura tricaspidata, Atlantus, Xanthozy- 

 laceae, Mazereon, Liqustrum, Myrica (should be Myrcia, and Pimenta 

 acris does not belong to the Myricaceae but to Myrtaceae), Artemisia 

 absynthium (for A. Abrolanum), Laurel (for Laurus), Arbutus uredo, 

 Stephanotis floribundis, and Gesnerias can all be guessed at, but what 

 can Codemus be ? Is it meant for Codiaeums ? 



It is greatly to be hoped that the author will have an opportunity 

 of revising this book before long, as its scheme and possible scope are 

 such as to make it a valuable book to gardeners of all types. 



