SOME BOOKS FOR AN AMATEUR GARDENER'S LIBRARY. 405 



This portion of the work is arranged on the Linnean System, in 

 which artificial arrangement plants were arranged in groups accord- 

 ing to the number of stamens and styles they possess. Although this 

 has been long ago quite superseded hy what is termed the Natural 

 System, in which plants are grouped according to the sum of characters 

 in their flowers and fruits, it is very useful when trying to identify a 

 flower that is altogether strange to one. Loudon's " Encyclopaedia 

 of Plants," with its twenty-one thousand descriptions and numerous 

 figures, has often helped me to name a flower when I was utterly puzzled 

 as to its genus, and had but a very poor scrap of material to base my 

 guesses upon ; and for this use, and because it is not a costly work to 

 buy, I consider it deserves a place on the bookshelf. 



It has appeared in various editions from 1829-1880, and their 

 prices vary from 5s. to £1 7s. 6d. 



Loudon's " Encyclopaedia of Gardening " is another marvel of 

 research and careful arrangement. 



Its title-page states that it comprises " the theory and practice 

 of Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture, and Landscape-Gardening, 

 including all the latest improvements," and also that it is " a general 

 history of gardening in all countries." 



That strikes one as fairly comprehensive, but a glance at the table 

 of contents causes one to marvel how any one man, even a Loudon, 

 could have collected so much information on such a number of various 

 subjects all connected with gardening. The general index alone 

 amounts to 116 pages, and there are 1351 pages in the main body of 

 the book, and this refers to the first edition of 1822 ; but there were 

 many subsequent editions, and the last two were described as con- 

 siderably improved and enlarged. I will select at random a few of 

 the subjects dealt with to give an idea of its versatility. The first 

 chapter deals with the Gardens of Antiquity, and even compares the 

 traditions of the Garden of the Hesperides with the BibHcal account 

 of the Garden of Eden, pointing out the parallelism of the apples of 

 Eve and Juno, and of the flaming sword, with the dragon which never 

 slept, which guarded the entrance. In another chapter the gardens 

 of the Romans are very fully described. Even Turkey in Europe, 

 Poland, Portugal, and China are included in a survey of gardening 

 in different countries. The section devoted to the Rise, Progress, and 

 Present State of Gardening in Britain is a mine of information, tracing 

 the succession of various schools of taste, with accounts of the men 

 who created them. Also the progress in the cultivation of plants of 

 ornament and flowers, as seen in books and accounts of old gardens. 

 Norwich seems to have played a great part in fostering the love of 

 flowers, and the Flemish emigrants who settled there in the middle of 

 the sixteenth century cultivated Carnations and Tulips. A florists' 

 feast was held there in 1637. Was this the first flower show in England ? 

 Sir WiUiam Temple, who flourished a little later, devoted himself to 

 fruit-growing, leaving flowers to the care of the ladies, and only pleased 

 himself with seeing and smelling them. AlFthrough the book pleasant 



