NOTES AND REVIEWS 
THE BROOKLYN EXHIBITION. 
HE Brooklyn Chapter of the American 
Institute of Architects will hold its fifth 
annual exhibition at the Pouch Gallery, 
Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, April 7th to 22d. 
Exhibits of drawings, photographs, sculp¬ 
ture and objects of industrial art are desired 
from all interested. Detailed information 
will be sent to intending exhibitors on appli¬ 
cation to Mr. W. A. Parfitt, Secretary ol 
the Exhibition Committee, 26 Court St., 
Brooklyn. Drawings for illustration in the 
catalogue should be sent to Mr. Henry Clay 
Carrel, 1123 Broadway, New York City. 
The Chapter will give a dinner on the even¬ 
ing of April 8th, and a Ladies’ Reception 
on the 10th. The Exhibition will be open 
to the public free from the nth to the 22d, 
and a number of special occasions are being 
planned. 
A CHARMING GARDEN BOOK. 
DELIGHTFUL combination of the aes¬ 
thetic and practical sides ol nature is 
attained in Mrs. Ely’s second garden book.* 
So attractively has the author performed her 
work, both as to matter and manner, that the 
hook is worth reading for its literary charm, 
quite apart from its practical applications. 
Nature lovers, condemned to an urban exist¬ 
ence, can here revel in imagination in the 
preparation and enjoyment of a flower and 
vegetable garden of their own though they 
may have no real opportunity beyond a few 
disheartened plants on a meagre window sill. 
As a working manual for the more fortunate, 
Mrs. Ely’s hook may be thoroughly trusted, 
as her long experience in the cultivation of 
gardens of moderate size has fully qualified 
her as an authority. Professor Chandler’s 
judiciously considered photographs add very 
materially to the usefulness and charm of the 
volume. 
* Another Hardy Garden Book. By Helena Rutherfurd 
Ely, author of “ A Woman’s Hardy Garden,” etc., with illus¬ 
trations made from photographs taken in the author’s garden 
by Professor Charles F. Chandler. New York: The MacMil¬ 
lan Company; London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd., 1905. All 
rights reserved. Price, $1.73 net. 
AMERICAN GARDENS. 
N a handsomely printed volume of 340 
pages,* Mr. Barr Ferree presents the 
most notable recent examples of American 
residences. Apart from the immediate interest 
which attaches to each of the profusely illus¬ 
trated subjects, this book has a definite his¬ 
toric value. It records and illustrates the 
third stage in the evolution of the American 
house, of which a sumptuous predecessor of 
a quarter-century earlier, entitled “American 
Homes,’’ may be taken to represent the sec¬ 
ond. I he advance is marked, but disap¬ 
pointing. The lavish outpouring of wealth 
on the part of the owner has, in nearly every 
example illustrated, produced a result due to 
an ill-digested study of some foreign example. 
It is perfectly evident that the fundamental 
lesson taught by the best European examples 
has not yet been learned. Our architects are 
still practising in their foreign copybooks, 
not having yet reached, it would seem, an 
intellectual maturity capable of producing 
a spontaneous, natural, and independent 
hand. All this however does not in the least 
detract from the value of Mr. Ferree’s work, 
since he must use such material as has been 
prepared for him. His part has been well 
done and his publishers have given him gen¬ 
erous support. 
SAN MARCO, VENICE. 
N the March number of The Architectural 
Review (London) Mr. Horatio F. Brown 
confirms Signor Manfredi’s alarming report 
of the dangerously unstable condition of 
this precious building. Immediate steps for 
its preservation must be taken, under penalty 
of the irreparable collapse of important 
parts of the structure, and for these the 
Italian government has promised to provide 
funds. 
♦American Estates and Gardens. By Barr Ferree, editor 
of the “ Scientific American Building Monthly.” Corres¬ 
ponding member of the American Institute of Architects and 
of the Royal Institute of British Architects. NewYork:Munn 
and Company. MCMIV. 340 pages; 10^x1354 inches; 275 
illustrations. Price, $10.00 net. 
170 
