BOOK REVIEWS. 



139 



deserving notoriety if even half as beautiful as they appear under 

 Mrs. Martineau's pleasantly-worded praise. 



A chapter is devoted to annuals and bulbs, and the scope of the 

 book is thereby enlarged to embrace all hardy subjects except flowering 

 shrubs, which only receive mention as suitable for backgrounds or 

 providing shelter. 



Everywhere one finds evidence that the writer has both seen and 

 handled the plants described, and herein lies the true value of the book. 

 Too seldom does one find a gardening book in which practical hints and 

 questions of cost are at one and the same time so obviously the result 

 of successful experiment, and yet are stated in such readable, natural, 

 unaffected, even conversational language. This makes even dull 

 details of digging and manuring pleasant to read and easy to under- 

 stand. 



The many illustrations are well produced, and represent delightful 

 pictures in gardens of many styles. The spelling of Latin names and 

 a somewhat irregular use of capitals and italics call for revision in 

 any future issues of the book. One is rather shocked with such a 

 printer's error as the word Sortelli, which may possibly represent the 

 specific name of Iris Lortelii, and it is disappointing to learn from the 

 remark on p. 36, " there are ninety varieties of Salvia and eighty 

 at least of primulas," that the authoress has not found out there are 

 over five hundred species of the former, and when Pax and Knuth 

 issued their monograph of the Primulaceae in 1905 they were able to 

 record 208 species of Primula. The last ten years of Chinese expedi- 

 tions have added over 150 species, and from other sources many 

 more have been added, as Prof. Bayley Balfour stated in his paper 

 read at the Primula Conference in 1913. 



A useful feature of the book is an alphabetical list of plants suitable 

 for Herbaceous Borders, as concise descriptions and good cultural 

 directions are included. Therefore it should prove of service to many 

 good gardeners who wish to be reminded of good plants and pleasing 

 colour combinations, as well as to the novice who is planning a new 

 garden. 



"Home Landscapes." By W. Robinson. 4to. 78 pp. (John 

 Murray, London, 1914.) £2 12s. 6d. net. 



From other examples of Mr. Robinson's later work, one is led to 

 expect any new book by him will be sumptuous in every way possible 

 as regards paper, type, and illustration, and that somewhere in its 

 pages will be found a strongly -worded protest against formality and 

 the topiary art. 



In this large quarto volume we find excellent examples of all. 

 The wealth of photographic reproductions is rich indeed, and it is 

 unnecessary to say more in proof of their artistic and technical 

 perfection than to mention that they were all taken by Mr. George 

 Champion. Each view has an accompanying page which more or 

 less describes what has been done to achieve the effect obtained. 



