January  15,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
55 
Trees  and  Shrubs, 
All  who  appreciate  such  shrubs  as  Magnolia  stellata,  Cas- 
sinia  fulvida,  Prunus  triloba,  Azalea  ainoena,  Viburnum  tonien- 
tosum,  plicatuin,  Escallonia  virgata,  Spirsea  prunifolia  fl.  pi., 
Zenobia  speciosa  pulverulenta,  and  others  of  this  ilk,  whose 
wonderful  beauty  are  far  too  restrictedly  known,  will  welcome 
the  book  to  which  we  draw  attention  in  this  notice.  Till  now 
there  has  been  no  complete  work  that  one  could  recommend 
wdien  applied  to,  for  though  someone  has  pointed  out  in  “  The 
Field”  that  the  bibliography  of  the  subject  of  trees  and 
shrubs  is  very  extensive,  still  many  of  the  prior  works  have  either 
become  obsolete,  or  those  which  are  still  of  some  service  are 
exceedingly  difficult  to  obtain,  so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  the 
trouble  is  not  worth  the  gain. 
It  has  been  shown  that,  not  alone  in  England,  but  in  Italy, 
France,  Germany,  and  the  United  States  of  America  as  well, 
has  the  subject  been  well  treated,  in  books.  Bacon  (1627), 
Evelyn  (1661),  Miller  (1731-1804),  Phillips  (1823),  Cobbett  (182.5), 
Loudon  (1838),  Johns  (1847,  Hemsley  (1873),  Mongredien  (1874), 
Kent,  and  Boulger  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  English  authors 
who  have  dealt  with  the  present  subject  in  various  ways.  Up 
to  their  dates  the  “  Arboretum  et  Fruticetum  Britannicum 
(1838)  and  the  “  Encyclopajdia  of  Trees  and  Shrubs”  (1842) 
eontain  a  valuable  mass  of  authentic  information  about  trees 
and  shrubs  not  easy  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Webster’s  “Orna¬ 
mental  Flowering  Trees  and  Shrubs,”  till  it  went  out  of  print 
was  greatly  in  demand,  being  very  cheap  and  very  useful ;  but 
other  works,  like  the  “  Calendar  of  Flowering  Trees  and 
Shrubs,”  by  Henry  Hoare,  have  not  become  popular,  because 
of  their  iucomiDleteness. 
The  latter  word  can  in  no  wise  be  applied  to  this  book,  com- 
liiled  as  it  is  from  the  original  writings  by  the  most  competent 
l^ractitioners  in  the  culture  and  use  of  ornamental  trees  and 
shrubs  which  the  editor  has  procured  and  added  to  his  own 
buy  books  to  use  them  will  not  be  slow  to  recognise  and 
assimilate. 
Though  wo  have  carefully  perused  most  of  the  text  in  the 
variou.s  sections,  we  can  scarcely  do.  more  than  name  the 
chapters,  but  even  that  will  serve  to  lay  open,  to  some  extent, 
the  intestine  components.  Mr.  Cook  makes  “  Want  of  Variety  ” 
the  heading  of  a  chapter,  and  points  out  how  great  is  the 
blemish  thereby,  and  briefly,  with  running  comment,  enu¬ 
merates  the  creme  de  la  creme  of  arbore.scent  beauties.  Suc¬ 
ceeding  this  comes  one  of  the  best  chapters  in  the  book,  on  the 
pruning  of  trees  and  shrubs,  the  various  genera  being 
separately  detailed  in  alphabetical  order,  and  the  method  of 
!  pruning  applicable  to  each  sort  of  shrub  is  stated. 
Many  will  be  pleased  to  have  the  chapter  on  the  propagation 
of  hardy  trees,  and  the  lists  of  trees  for  the  sea-coast,  trees 
with  coloured  foliage,  trees  with  fine  fruits,  trees  for  the  rock 
gard'en,  weej)ing  trees  and  their  uses,  and  the  remarks  on 
Conifers,  the  stately  trees  of  Murthly  and-the  Perthshire  High- 
land.s  receiving  an  extended  consideration.  “Trees  in  Scot¬ 
land  ”  forms  the  subject  of  a  chapter  by  itself,  but  Ireland  has 
been  unfairly  overlooked,  and  it  must  be  .said  that  many  choice 
Ericaceae' and  Coniferse  flourish  within  Erin’s  shores  as  they  do 
not  elsewhere.  ■  The  south  and  west  of  England  counties  furnish 
examples  of  numerous  tender  shrubs  that  succeed  out  of  doors, 
and  a  section  is  fittingly  devoted  to  a  recitation  of  a  very  full 
list,  with  descriptions  of  these,  and  apposite  observations. 
But  undoubtedly  the  most  .geiierally  applicable  section,  and 
one.  that  must  have  entailed  very  considerable  preparation  and 
work  to  produce,  is  that  of  the  tables  of  hardy  flowering  trees 
and  shrubs,  arranged  alphabetically,  with  name,  country  of 
origin.  Natural  Order,  colour  and  season  of  flowering,  and, 
lastly,'  pithy  “  general  remarks,”  in  parallel  columns  on  the 
same  page.  A  vast  amount  of  information  is  thus  condemsed. 
Shrubs  for  the  greenhouse  and  for  small  gardens  furnish  matter 
for  other  chapters,  and  the  operations  of  lifting  large  trees, 
planting,  grouping,  &c.,  all  receive  attention.  The  book  is  well 
printed  and  handsomely  illustrated. 
It  is  the  duty  of  reviewei's  to  call  attention  to  slips  they 
may  discover,  and  though  errors  are  few,  we  notice  some.  •  The 
name  cserulea  (from  the  Latin)  is  wrongly  spelt  in  this 
book  with  an  “  6,”  as  coerulea ;  C’as.sinia  is  passed  as  Cassinea ; 
and  Rosa  Wichuraiana  is  spelt  without  one  of  its  “  a’s,”  thus — - 
Wichuriana. 
Great  Beech  Hedge 
valuable  chapters.  One  cannot  help  remarking  how  thoroughly 
to  the  hearts  of  the  writers  lies  the  subject  of  which  they  deal, 
and  their  knowledge  of  the  characteristics  and  attributes  of 
species  and  varieties  shows  itself  in  an  abundance  of  practical 
hints  in  every  connection  of  the  subject,  such  as  those  who 
*  “  Tree.s  and  Slirubs  for  English  Gardens,”  by  E.  T,  Cook.  “  Country  Life  ” 
Library  and  Geo.  Newne^  Ltd.  12s.  6d.  net.  (pp.  471,  Cin,  x  Din.s.). 
at  Micklecur,  N.B. 
On  two  of  our  pages  this  week  we  are  privileged  to  use 
certain  of  the  illustratioiLS  from  “  Trees  and  Shrubs  for  Englisb 
Gardens.”  Wo  hear  the  words,  “  for  English  Gardens  repeat¬ 
ing  themselves,  and  mentally  ,  we  ask  whether  the  substitution 
of  the  less  euphonious  word  British  would  not  have  conveyed 
the  truer  extent  of  the  application  of  this  work.  Ihe  book, 
however  is  already  successful,  which  fact  wo  are  pleased  to 
chronicle,  and  with  the  fullest  commendations,  hero  we  leave  it. 
