BOOK EEVIEWS. 



437 



of it. The routine work of all sorts in connexion with the cultivation 

 of the most commonly grown hardy fruits is described clearly, con- 

 cisely, and fully, while the recommendations as to varieties — brought 

 quite up to date by the inclusion of James Grieve and Bismarck 

 amongst the apples — could scarcely be improved upon, members of 

 the Fruit Committee of the E.H.S. having been consulted in con- 

 nexion therewith. 



If it is desired to pick out a fault in such an excellent little manual 

 the illustrations afford an excuse, some of them — e.g. the strawberry 

 edging on p. 21 — being somewhat crudely diagrammatic, and possibly 

 misleading to a novice. 



"The American Flower Garden." By Neltje Blanchan. 4to,, 

 368 pp. (Heinemann, London, 1909.) 21s. net. 



This is a handsome volume of garden literature, well got up, and 

 profusely illustrated with nearly a hundred half-tone engravings as well 

 as some finely coloured half -page plates. 



The illustrations are chosen with care and good judgment, and illus- 

 trate precisely what is wanted. 



The authoress in some sixteen chapters deals with the American 

 aspect of gardening in a very original manner and from every possible 

 standpoint. 



After an admirable introduction to the art of gardening as evidenced 

 by the partnership between Nature and art and the correlation of situa- 

 tion and design in the garden, the reader is given a series of well-written 

 essays on the various types of gardens and the importance of careful 

 adaptation to the character of the environment, and also of the nature 

 of the flora with which to enrich them. 



For trees and flowering .shrubs she has a keen and artistic apprecia- 

 tion, indicating with nice judgment exactly the value of sylvan character 

 in the landscape and garden. 



Some interesting advice is given on the subject of moving big trees, 

 a matter of more importance, perhaps, in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of the large American cities than in an English country district. As 

 practised in the States the authoress says:, " One enthusiastic amateur 

 has reduced the percentage of loss to less than 5 per cent, of all the trees 

 he moves, and so daring has he grown that he no longer root-prunes a 

 tree before lifting it nor hesitates to transfer a horse-chestnut in full 

 flower from one part of his estate to another." 



Mrs. Blanchan 's book is of course written for the American public, 

 but there is so much that is common to both sides of the Atlantic in the 

 matter of gardening that we can fully appreciate the instructive illus- 

 trations and the very refined, artistic, and perfectly natural advice given. 



To English readers the book should prove attractive and entertaining ; 

 it is a " readable " book without the least trace of that pedantic tone one 

 almost unconsciously expects from such an ambitious title. It is, too, 

 a book that will be equally acceptable to the landowner and gardener 

 ^hke, 



