360 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
the time, aiul there were several. This, however, is taking 
us away from South Africa, to which we return to men- 
tion, in conclusion, the golden Gazania, the Transvaal 
Daisy (Gerbera Jamiesoni), the other and newer Daisy 
Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, which our seedsmen have 
succeeded in selecting in almost rainbow colors now, just 
as they have bred up the S. African annual Nemesia 
strumosa Suttoni. (In passing, compare Schizanthus 
from Chili, with Nemesia from S. Africa.) The beauti- 
ful Plumbago capensis furnishes a much-prized blue- 
flowered shrub, and in Sparmannia africana we have a 
white-flowered one, each from this southern land. As- 
paragus plumosus is also S. African. The Immortelles 
or Everlastings from that country further bear out the 
main fact of' the dry-land character of its vegetation. 
You don't, for instance, find ferns or hardy herbaceous 
plants there. * * * 
One of the richest countries, or two of the richest, 
are China and Japan. So many plants, indeed, bear the 
"surname" japonica, that gardeners are sometimes col- 
oquially called "Japonicas." Here are some of the better 
known Far Eastern plants : 
Acanthopanax Gaultheria 
Aeschynantlnis Ginkgo (Maidenhair Tree) 
Ailantus (Tree of Heaven) Halesia (Snowdrop Tree) 
Akebia Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) 
Aralia Ligustrum (Privet) 
Aspidistra Nandina domestica 
Aucuba NeUimbium 
Caesalpinia Ophiopogon 
Callistephus (China Aster) Paulownia iniperialis 
CamelHa Pittosporum 
Cephalotaxus Pseudolarix 
Chamaecvparissus (or Cypress) Rodgersia 
Chimonanthns Sciadopitys (Umbrella Tree) 
Chrysanthemums Symphoricarpos 
Clerodendron trichotomum Thuya (Arborvitae) 
Cryptomeria Skinimia 
Eurya latifolia Thujopsis 
Forsythia Wistaria, also various Ijamboos 
Funkia Tea plant 
* * * 
The study of plant geography soon becomes fascinat- 
ing, and at any rate, the fact of knowing what the local 
conditions of growths are in the natural state of the 
plants, and a knowledge of the region from which they 
come, must not only be a powerful aid to the correct and 
successful treatment of plants under domestication. In 
the matter of plant introduction the English have taken 
a leading part. They have been an exploring and col- 
onizing race. Yet other countries played their part. 
France, Spain, Germany and Russia maintained col- 
lectors in different countries at different times. In the 
early days, British naval and military officers and the 
governors of the colonies, as well as rich merchants, 
and occasionally the ecclestiastics stationed abroad, as 
well as other officials and stray travelers, added to the 
wealth of plants in European, and particularly British, 
gardens. Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh 
brought home many subjects; Gerarde, Parkinson, 
Tradescant, Plukenet, botanists and herbalists, swelled 
the list of those from Europe, northern Africa and 
North America. The East India Company, formed in 
the year 1600, introduced not a few ; then came South 
African, West Indian and Chinese selections, and later 
on, at the end of the eighteenth century, Australian 
plants, which were largely introduced by the efforts of 
Sir Joseph Banks. * * * 
Something was said last month about books. Tastes 
differ as to the choice of books. The man who has noth- 
ing else than Carnations or Roses under glass to look 
after will find most of his wants supplied in one good 
standard work on these like "Commercial Carnation 
Culture," or "Roses Under Glass." These, with notes 
and articles in the gardening papers and reports from 
the State experiment stations, are about all he will trouble 
to get. Likewise specialists in all lines look first to the 
particular works that concern their part of horticulture 
or floriculture, making a secondary matter of all else. 
There are thousands of readers of The G.xrdeneks' 
Chronicle of America, however, whose outlook on 
flowers and plants and their cultivation, employment and 
the enjoyment is of the broadest, and these seek a widely 
varied library. It is really fine amusement trying to 
make out lists of the books one would like. I often do 
this with reference to general literature, and have a 
notebook well-stocked with the titles and authors of 
novels, books of travels, historical works, and others 
treating of religion, biography and so on. It keeps one 
hopeful, if it does nothing more. Many gardeners are 
omnivorous readers. One gardner known to me appears 
to have the present war off by heart, knowing the history 
of the generals, their present and recent commands and 
their strategy in their battles. The late Mr. Marshall, 
of the Mt. Kisco region, was a learned man from con- 
stant reading, and the late Wm. Smith, curator of the 
Washington (D. C.) Botanic Garden, had the best col- 
lection of Burns books in America. "The best univers- 
ity," said Carlyle, "is a library of good books." 
^ % ^ 
1 suggest to the editor of The Chronicle, that before 
the National Gardeners' Association, he obtain by vote 
or letter, a selection of the titles of the best twelve or 
twenty books suitable for the use of young gardeners. 
Alost likely the lists will vary considerably. Half a 
dozen lists from as many men in New England, three or 
four from New York and so on over the country, the 
lists to be published monthly in the Winter issues of 
The Chronicle, would keep alive a spirit of interest 
and desire for study. The more I think of it the better 
1 like the idea of letters from leading men on what a 
gardener should, could, or might read. A friend now 
gone, said, every time he looked into Webster's Interna- 
tional Dictionary, "If I was banished to an island alone, 
with only one book, this is the one I'd choose." His 
choice had many merits. There are much worse ways 
of spending an hour than in having a dictionar}' stretched 
across one's knees. 
To begin with, all who can afford Bailey's Cyclopedia 
of Gardening in six volumes, costing $6 each or $36 net, 
should purchase this. It is a library in itself. There is 
little that it misses. It is good mental pabulum to bring 
scattered brain cells into action after a day's digging, 
potting or pruning. Passing to the field of general 
garden literature, "The Onlooker" would want, firstly, 
some histories of gardening and plants ; their titles are 
manifold. Secondly, one or more works on plant geog- 
raphy, something dealing with the distribution of plants 
over the face of the globe. Physical geography would 
be included. Thirdly, a science series, to comprise some 
botanies, one or more on the uses of plants in general 
commerce and for drug purposes ; works on diseases, 
insects, the uses of manures and fertilizers. Fourthly, 
miscellaneous gossipy books on gardening and other 
works on plant lore and the mythological stories con- 
nected with them. Fifthly, general and special treatises 
on gardening, fruit cultivation, indoor and outdoor 
plants. Sixthly, landscape gardening, garden making, 
forestry, estate and farm management. Here would be 
something for all moods, for rainy days and sunny days, 
something to inspire and guide the mind whenever either 
was required. It is granted that a simpler librarv would 
do very well. In most cases it has to — and a lot simpler. 
