THE HAND-BOOK OF GARDENING. 
249 
ARTICLE III. 
THE HAND-BOOK OF GARDENING, IN PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE, 
FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND SELF-INSTRUCTION. 
BY JAMES RENNIE, A. M. 
Professor of Zoology, King's College London. —18 mo. —Is. 9 d. 
This little book was written at the request of J. S. Menteath, Esq. 
Closeburn-Hall, Dumfrieshire, chiefly for the use of the Scotch Pea¬ 
santry. The author, after accounting for the appearance of the work, 
gives as a commencement the ground plans of a cottage, and garden. 
He then briefly treats on the science of gardening, and explains the 
reasons for performing various operations ; the uses of the mouths of 
plants; the sorts of food taken up by them ; changes undergone by 
the food; causes of the growth of plants; heat, cold, and shelter; 
seed-sowing; multiplying plants by cuttings, &c. 
Then follows the art and practice of gardening, such as, rearing 
vegetables, fruits, and flowers. A calendar of work to be done every 
month in the year; succession of crops; and lastly, an index to the 
whole; which consists of 130 pages. 
The volume throughout contains very pithy remarks and generally 
good directions, although in some cases they hardly agree with daily 
practical experience. Yet the work will be found to cottagers an 
excellent little guide; it will also be a nice hand-book for young 
gardeners, who may not have it in their power to buy a more ex¬ 
pensive work, or, as is often the case, may have but little time to 
spare for reading. To all such we would recommend it, and that 
they may have some idea of its contents, we have made the following 
extracts. 
Mouths of Garden Plants.—“ All manure must not only be 
rendered liquid, but also be as thin as water, before it can be sucked 
up by the spongelets; and hence even the drainings of stables and 
dunghills, which are very rich in nourishment for plants, are too 
rich, that is, too thick to pass the small openings, till they are largely 
mixed with water, without which they will choke the crops instead 
of feeding them. When the leaves become yellow from this cause, 
they are usually said to be burnt by the heat of the manure. In the 
same way, the finest sort or the finest powdered lime, bones, or 
shells, cannot, till dissolved in water, get through the spongelets into 
any plant.” 
“ It is on this account, that, in transplanting, the tips of the root 
fibres are pressed and obstructed by the earth of their new situation, 
