672 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



" Agricultural Botany." By Professor M. C. Potter, M.A., F.L.S., 

 F.R.H.S., &c. (Methuen, London.) 4s. Qd. 



This interestingly written "Botany" might quite as well have been called 

 " horticultural" as "agricultural," for it is in reality a delightfully plain 

 and easy text-book for the elements of botany and vegetable physiology. 

 The charm of the present book consists in the comparative absence of 

 technical terms and difficult words. Professor Potter says " Scientific 

 knowledge is often expressed in needlessly technical language," with which 

 we most cordially agree. We can heartily commend the book to any 

 ignorant person who wants to learn how plants grow, of what members 

 they consist, how they feed and on what food, how they multiply, and 

 by what diseases and enemies they are specially attacked. It is amply 

 illustrated, and is a perfectly readable book for anyone wishing to gain " a 

 little knowledge" which cannot prove "a dangerous thing" in this 

 instance, but is more likely to lead on to the desire to acquire a still fuller 

 grasp of the subject. 



" Children's Gardens." By the Hon. Mrs. Evelyn Cecil. (Macmillan^ 

 London.) 6s. 



All who really love any hobby or pursuit love to make disciples, and 

 this spirit — the spirit of endeavouring to inoculate the rising generation 

 with her own almost inexhaustible love of gardens — breathes through 

 Mrs. Evelyn Cecil's book from cover to cover. Let us say at once that it 

 is not intended for quite babies, but children of ten years old and upwards 

 may well be imagined deeply interested in this unassuming volume and 

 learning from it " a sound foundation of the rudiments of gardening." 

 There are plenty of pictures, evidently from photographs, scattered about 

 the book to brighten it and add to its interest. It is divided into the four 

 seasons, each of which is described with its principal and best flowers, 

 with full instructions how to work and what to work at and plan for 

 during each season. Happy children, born in these later days ! There 

 were no such books when we were boys and girls. Perhaps that makes 

 us all the more enjoy such children's books as this when our own second 

 childhood is not very distant. 



" Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens." By E. T. Cook. (Newnes r 

 London.) 12s. Cxi. 



Another of the charming volumes of the "Country Life" Library, 

 and right royally does it maintain the credit of the series. Mr. Cook is- 

 to be congratulated on having supplied a distinct want, and he is also to 

 be envied by many in having a publisher who will allow him such a 

 wealth of glorious illustrations, of which there are nearly 150 full-page 

 reproductions from photographs. And herein consists both their value 

 and their beauty, for they are not, as is so often the case with illustrations, 



