250 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Kew and other items of interest, and we compliment Mr. Spooner on the 

 manner in which he has written his descriptive notes, for he not only 

 explains the illustrations very clearly, but gives the history and habitat 

 of many of the plants shown ; for instance, in describing Amorphophallus 

 Titanum, he says : " It was discovered by Dr. Beccari, the illustrious 

 traveller and botanist, in the province of Padang, in Sumatra, in 1878. 

 Beccari at first found the leaf only, and offered a reward to the natives for 

 a flower, and to his surprise it required two men to carry the ponderous 

 mass. To give an idea of the dimensions of the flower in its native home 

 it is sufficient to say that a man standing upright can barely reach the top 

 of the spadix, and with open arms can scarcely reach half-way round the 

 circumference of the spathe." 



" Sweet Peas and How to Grow Them." By H. H. Thomas. 8vo., 

 112 pp. (Oassell, London, 1909.) Is. ; cloth, Is. M. net. 



A very useful little book of convenient size for the sweet-pea growers, 

 and their name is legion, giving full directions as to how to grow them, 

 the best varieties to grow, hybridizing, diseases, pests, in fact all one 

 could reasonably wish to know is supplied in this well-written book. 



"An Artist's Garden, Tended, Painted, Described." By Anna Lea 

 Merritt. Demy 8vo., 195 pp. (George Allen, London, 1908.) 21s. net. 



This is a beautiful book, handsomely illustrated and admirably printed 

 on excellent paper ; but its charm is, in our opinion, quite spoiled by 

 the authoress's attack on a very industrious, respectable, capable, and 

 painstaking body of men. We cannot imagine a nastier term to apply to 

 a gardener than to call him " a hireling gardener," classing him amongst 

 such perversities as "insects, moles, mice, and blights of mildew and 

 manners." It is scarcely obvious why "gardeners ought to have wide 

 faces and eyes far apart." No reason is given why they should be different 

 from the rest of the human race, and it seems that the writer of this book 

 must have a very poor opinion of all gardeners, as she tilts at the want of 

 taste displayed by the professional gardener. Even artists have very 

 opposite ideas of taste, and to dogmatically state that most professional 

 gardeners are lacking in taste would not be endorsed by all other artists. 



" In My Lady's Garden." By Mrs. Richmond. 8vo., 464 pp. 

 (Unwin, London, 1908.) 12s. 6d. net. 



The authoress tells us from her own experience what to do, and what 

 to expect in flower every week for the whole year, the whole being 

 written so clearly that no one can make any mistake as to the meaning 

 or instruction given. In every garden of any extent " my lady's garden " 

 is of more than ordinary interest, and we naturally expect to see good 

 taste, neatness, and order prevailing ; and to these ends Mrs. Richmond's 

 book ministers in a marked degree. The information on the most 

 beautiful flowers to grow is excellent, and the positions they succeed best 1 

 in are well described. Aquatic, wild garden, herbaceous, sub-tropical, stove, 

 greenhouse, hardwooded, and other plants are all brought under the notice 

 of the reader in a charming manner, and the advice on laying out and 



