82 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
many others. With a practical lesson or two for the sake of making acquaint¬ 
ance with the necessary tools and materials, and their uses, we have no doubt 
that this neat little volume would enable any persevering student to become a 
proficient in the art it professes to teach. 
Mr. Rendle sends us new .editions of his useful pamphlets relating to the 
Patent Plant Protectors, and which should be carefully read by those about to 
adopt any of these handy contrivances, which have now assumed considerable 
variety of form and character. One of them is entitled Vines and Ground 
Vineries ; another is Portable Plant Protectors, and How to Use Them ; 
and a third is a “ protector” Calendar of Operations for every month in the 
year. They are all profusely illustrated. 
In The Fern Garden*, we have a useful manual for the guidance of amateurs. 
The style is meant to be racy, and the information popular, and therefore we must 
not too strictly apply the technical terms which are here and there employed, but 
with this caution, there is not much risk of mistaking what the author means. 
Rather than scan the pages too closely, we would send the reader to the book 
itself, wherein will be found such a variety of information as will make it diffi¬ 
cult to resist the impulse to set up a fernery. There are chapters on fern collec¬ 
tions, on forming the out-door fernery, on rock ferns, on marsh ferns, on ferns in 
pots, on the fern-house, on the fireside fernery, and on the art of multiplying 
ferns. Then follows a rapid run through the different British genera, with just a 
brief mention of a few of the most striking species and varieties. Finally, we get 
chapters, with select lists, on the culture of stove and greenhouse ferns, on tree ferns, 
and on fern allies. In glancing over the 148 pages of the book, we see little to 
dissent from. One passage, however, attracts the eye. After recommending 
September for potting ferns, we read “ the next best time to shift them will be 
the 1st of March.” We would certainly omit the word “next;” moreover, the 
author himself elsewhere tells us, that though ferns may be potted at any time, 
yet “ when they are just starting into growth is the best time.” 
Mr. Wooster’s Alpine Plants (Bell and Daldy), parts 6 and 7, contain 6 plates 
illustrating eleven subjects. The execution of the plates leaves little, if aught, 
to be desired, but the arrangement of the subjects is not always satisfactory or 
happy, e.g ., plate 20. This, however, in no way detracts from the utility of the 
book, which will be welcomed by all lovers of choice hardy lowly flowers. 
LILIUM THUNBERGIANUM FLORE-PLENO. 
HIS is a remarkably ornamental hardy bulb, which has been obtained along 
with many other forms of the same species from Japan. The accom¬ 
panying figure was taken from a plant which bloomed last summer in Mr. 
W. Bull’s collection, but the same form, or one closely resembling it, had 
* The Fern Garden, hoic to Make, Keep, and Enjoy it; or, Fern-Culture Made Easy. By Shirley Hibberd. 
With 8 coloured plates and 40 wood engravings. London: Groombridge and Sons. 
