BOOK REVIEWS. 



597 



" Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles." By W. J. Bean. 

 2 vols. 8vo. xiv + 688 + vi i- 736 pp. (Murray, London, 1914.) 

 £2 2s. net. 



The woody vegetation of the temperate regions of the world has 

 long been a source of attraction to the ardent horticulturist, for trees 

 and shrubs give a permanent setting to the garden ; many are very 

 beautiful in themselves, either for their form, their foliage in the 

 changing seasons of the year, their flowers, or their fruits ; and apart 

 from this there is a peculiar attraction about a well-grown tree, a 

 sense of ste dfastness and sturdy strength, or of enduring delicacy and 

 grace that must appeal to almost all garden lovers. Loudon's monu- 

 mental industry provided an extraordinarily valuable account of 

 trees and shrubs introduced to these islands up to the date of its 

 pubHcation (1838) in " Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," while 

 the magnificent work on trees recently completed by Elwes and 

 Henry has given to British horticulturists and foresters a work of 

 reference concerning trees altogether invaluable. Shrubs were, how- 

 ever, beyond the scope of the latter book, and the explorations in 

 China, especially those of Wilson for plants of horticultural value, 

 and the recent introduction of shrubby plants from other temperate 

 regions have made Loudon's valuable v/ork quite out of date. When 

 we remember the skill Loudon had in packing much information into 

 small space, and remember also that his book extended to four thick 

 volumes of letterpress besides four of plates, it will be recognized at 

 once that the two bulky volumes of this new work will not altogether 

 supersede Loudon's, but they supplement it and give an account of all 

 the more reliable and valuable of the woody plants now cultivated 

 in the gardens of these islands. 



Mr. Bean has had unique opportunities at Kew for becoming 

 thoroughly acquainted with the subjects with which he deals, and 

 he has made the best use of them ; besides this he has travelled, and 

 has used his powers of observation in such a manner as to enable him 

 to give us a most valuable book. 



The plan of it, after some useful preliminary matter deahng with 

 cultural operations and the horticultural uses of trees and shrubs, 

 is to take each genus (in alphabetical order) and describe it, give 

 notes upon the cultivation of the species, their propagation and the 

 like, and then to describe the species in cultivation. In cases where, 

 as so often happens, confusion exists as to the correct names of 

 garden plants, the particular distinguishing characteristics between the 

 confused plants are carefully pointed out, notes on hardiness, synonymy, 

 and so on, given, and notable examples alluded to. Where a, good 

 figure exists reference is made to it, and the excellent line drawings 

 in the text, made from photographs by Miss E*. Goldring, are valuable 

 aids to identification. There are also a number of good full-page 

 plates from photographs of plants in gardens. We wish, however, 

 that fuller synonymy had been given in some cases. For instance, 



