REVIEWS. 
139 
ji is not filled with the visionary ideas of a mere theorist, but the experience of one who has 
;alised what she teaches. 
A considerable portion of the work is devoted to the Garden, and abounds with general prac- 
cal hints for the culture of flowers, many of which will meet the wants of those amateurs who 
iierely cultivate a small plot, and a few plants in a window. Our space forbids us to indulge in 
lany extracts. The following will serve to give some idea of the manner in which each subject 
handled ; and for further information, we must refer our readers to the work itself ; — 
« I would advise you to have a few plants in pots in the east window. Remember though, 
ou must have only a few plants, as more than five or six would give the window the appearance 
f being a substitute for a greenhouse — a most unpleasant idea at any time, and particularly so 
i the country. They should be in large handsome pots, standing in saucers, for the sake of 
eanliness ; and care should be taken not to fill the pots with earth higher than to within an 
ich from the brim, so as to leave plenty of room for watering. The space left should be filled 
l ith water every morning, and the water suffered to run through the pots into the saucers, which, 
fter waiting about ten minutes, or more if necessary, so as to allow as much water as possible 
) drain through the earth in the pots, should be emptied, as nothing can be more injurious to 
lost kinds of plants in pots than to let water stand in their saucers. If a constant fire be kept 
1 the room, so that the air is always hot and dry, the pots in which the plants are kept should 
;e set within other pots, and the space between the two filled with moss. This is also a good 
Ian with plants in balconies, to prevent the roots of the plants becoming dry and withered, 
'lants in rooms always require a great deal more water than plants in a greenhouse, to coun- 
eract the dry atmosphere of a living room ; and, when practicable, they should be set out in the 
■ain, or syringed over head, to wash off the dust, which, from sweeping the room, and other 
pauses, will inevitably rest on the leaves, and choke up their pores, thus impeding the action of 
iiose very important organs. Air also is as essential to the health of plants as it is to that of 
uman beings, and both live by decomposing it.” 
The Principles of Practical Gardening. By George W. Johnson, Esq. R. Baldwin. 
I Although we do not hold ourselves to subscribe to all the contents of this book, we can 
■ruly say that it contains a fund of useful information on the subjects most essential to those 
Vho embark in the culture of plants. It consists of nine chapters, following a plant through 
II its stages, from the germination of the seed to its final decay ; and exhibiting the main facts 
a vegetable physiology and chemistry applied to the ordinary operations of gardening, and 
?ritten in a perspicuous and popular style. We may instance the following paragraph (from 
I. 327, where the writer is speaking of chemical affinities) as a specimen : — 
“ So long as a plant lives, it triumphs over those affinities. Its roots overcome the affinily 
f the soil, and take from it its moisture ; its leaves overcome the affinity of the atmosphere, and 
leprive it of the watery vapour it has in solution. The internal vessels overcome numerous 
^^iffinities ; and, by the decomposition of carbonic acid and water, perform within their simple 
ube that which can only be effected by the chemist’s most powerful agents. These triumphs 
if )ver chemical affinities — and that most characteristic of triumphs, its avoidance of putrefaction 
-endure in the same individual, often for centuries of years ; it is the most marked of the 
riumphs of vitality ; its prime distinction as a creature capable, for a time, of defying the laws 
vhich doom all organic matters to return to the dust from which they were created ; for no 
iooner does that vitality cease, than the heat, the moisture, and the gases which vitality com- 
jelled to minister to the plant’s luxuriance and health, now triumph in their turn, and serve to 
Ijlestroy that form which they had aided to sustain.” 
Here we have an epitome of the life of a plant ; besides its amplification, the author shows 
low the affinities here spoken of are affected by extraneous powers ; in other words, he deduces 
|lie theory of gardening fi’om the results of its practical operations examined by the lights of 
science. It is a work which every young gardener ought to possess. 
