124 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



way, without pretending to any technical knowledge of house building, 

 experienced much pleasure in our perusal of " Houses and Gardens." 



Within the covers of Mr. Weaver's book are pictured many dainty 

 little bits of beauty that we would gladly transfer to our own domain, 

 if that were possible, and under the skilful care of Mr. Lutyens it is safe 

 to affirm that many a desert place throughout the country has, not 

 only in figurative language but in actual fact, been made to blossom 

 as the rose. We are long past the era of Victorian ugliness in house 

 construction, and men who are engaged in such work as his are creating 

 for themselves a name that will long render them famous, and providing 

 for future generations homes that are at once artistic to look at, com- 

 fortable to Hve in, and models for those who desire to imitate them. 



The printing, illustrating, and binding do infinite credit to all con- 

 cerned in its production, and the reader will be hard to please indeed 

 who does not feel, as we do after perusing it, that it is with genuine 

 regret that he is compelled to close its most attractive pages. 



" Rock Gardening for Amateurs." By H. H. Thomas, assisted 

 by S. Arnott. 8vo., 276 pp. (Cassell, London, 1914.) 6s. net. 



The British pubhc will no doubt some day learn how to build 

 and plant a rock garden. But the writers on horticultural subjects 

 evidently do not think they have learnt yet, and so the flow of works 

 on rock gardening continues. Here is another one by Mr. Thomas, 

 assisted by Mr. S. Arnott. 



The book is practical and useful to those who wish to commence 

 a rock garden, but the collaboration of these two gentlemen does 

 not seem to have been quite complete, and there is some divergence 

 of views as to the cultivation of certain plants. For instance, we are 

 told in one place that Dryas octopetala likes sandy loam and peat, 

 and in another that it likes hme. Which is the beginner to believe ? 

 Some errors as to cultivation are also to be found, notably, for 

 instance, with regard to Primula Forrestii, which plant is, in the 

 reviewer's experience, almost indestructibly hardy if planted in well- 

 drained limy soil. 



The illustrations of good rock garden building hardly agree 

 with the text, which rightly warns readers against the use of too much 

 rock. Lists are given at the end of the book which might have been 

 compiled with more care. The illustrations are many, and on the 

 whole good. Every variety of rock and wall gardening is dealt with, 

 including the formation of pools, and there are useful chapters on the 

 propagation of alpines and their care in winter, though Saxifraga 

 Burseriana does not need glass. On the whole, a practical work. 



" Commercial Orchid-Growing : A Treatise on the Cultivation 

 of Orchids suitable for the Cut Flower Trade, Amateurs, and Market 

 Growers." By C. Alwyn Harrison. 8vo., 132 pp. (Lockwood 

 Press, London, 1914.) 25. net ; 25. 2d. post-free. 



This neat little book of fifteen chapters is devoted to the useful and 

 interesting subject of growing orchids for market and cut flower purposes. 



