REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 



299 



smelling misty mauve lavender. The idea in old days of reserving 

 one garden for one type of flower cannot be too much admired ; it gives a 

 delicacy of efl:ect and also the charm of individuality." It is a pity this 

 is not more carried out to-day. In the chapter on Ham House enough is 

 written to show that the vine was cultivated there, and that there was an 

 EngUsh vineyard. Also at Abbotsbury and at Albury. At this latter 

 place the vineyard was said to be twelve acres in extent. Hatfield, we 

 are told, possessed large vineyards long before the celebrated one was 

 planted by Sir Robert Cecil. 



Those who have visited Knole may remember the quaint old rooms 

 fragrant with the perfume from the pot-pourri jars. The old recipe of 

 Lady Betty Germaine is given below : " Gather dry, double violets, rose 

 leaves, lavender, myrtle flowers, verbena, bay leaves, rosemary, balm, 

 musk, and geranium ; pick these from the stalks and dry on paper in the 

 sun for a day or two before putting them in a jar. This should be a 

 large white one, one well glazed, with a clcse-fitting cover ; also a piece 

 of card the exact size of the jar, which you must keep pressed down on 

 the flowers. Keep a wooden spoon and stir the salt and flowers from the 

 bottom before you put in a fresh layer of bay salt above and below every 

 layer of flowers. Have ready of spices plenty of cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, 

 and pepper and lemon peel pounded. For a jar, ^ lb. orris-root, 1 oz. 

 storax, 1 oz. gum benjamin, 2 oz. calamino aromatico, 2 grs. musk, and a 

 small quantity of oil of rhodium, the spice gums to be added when you 

 have collected all the flowers you intend to put in. Mix all well together, 

 press down well, and spread bay salt on the top to exclude the air until 

 January or February following. Keep the jar in a cool place." 



Xo doubt, there are celebrated individual plants and shrubs in these 

 historic gardens, but not too many are mentioned, and one could have 

 hoped to find more recipes, for which many of these noble still-rooms 

 must be celebrated. 



The original drawings by K. M. Wyatt must be charming, and their 

 reproductions in many cases a disappointment to the artist, though some 

 are less hard than others. 



" Garden Colour " : Spring, by Mrs. C. W. Earle ; Summer, by E. Y. B. ; 

 Autumn, by Eose Kingsley ; Winter, by Hon. Vicary Gibbs ; Notes and 

 Water-colour Sketches by Margaret Waterfield. 4to. 196 pp. (Dent, 

 London.) 21s. net. 



In this volume of beautiful print and lovely illustrations the well- 

 known authors have compiled one of the best books on gardening that we 

 have had the pleasure of reading. In the fifty-six pages devoted to Garden 

 Colour in Spring Mrs. Earle, in her usual charming manner, names a 

 large number of plants every one of which we should desire to grow had 

 we space to give them ; but the choice is so great, the colour so varied, 

 and the mode of cultiu-e besi suited to them so plain, that we may make 

 our selection easily by the aid of this book, without much danger of any 

 failure. The portion by E. V. B., devoted to Summer, is equally dehght- 

 ful, and covers a very wide field ; while Mrs. Crof ton deals with Climbing 

 Roses, Mr. Richmond Powell with Paeonies, and Mr. George Mount with 

 the Culture of Roses, each one treating their subject in a masterly manner. 



