Pot-pourri from a Surrey garden

1848. ' The Eose Garden/ by William Paul. This is a most interesting publication as regards plant growth, increased variety, and the utter collapse and deteriora- tion, of the art of illustrating. Viewed by the light of Eedoute's Rose book, it is like turning from a Greek goddess to the stoutest of matrons. The poor Hose ! — it has swelled and amplified under cultivation to a despairing degree; but the execution of the plates is answerable for much, no doubt. We have now the figure of the Bourbon Eose, called 'Souvenir de la Malmaison.' Eoses have increased apace in the quarter of a century since Eedoute painted them, but many of the Eoses in this book are now called old-fashioned. The plans and instructions for Eose gardens are not what are now admired, and, one would say are singularly unsuited to the spreading wild growth of healthy Eoses. 1854. 'A History of British Ferns,' by Edward Newman. Enthusiastic gardeners in the 'Fifties gave a great deal of time and attention to Ferns. Now, people wisely do not attempt them where they will not grow. My other Fern book, published in 1868, is ' Select Ferns and Lycopods, British and Exotic/ by B. S. Williams. A useful book, as Fern-growing in stoves and greenhouses will always be well worth while. 230 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN (No date, but I imagine in the 'Fifties.) ' Profitable Gardening : a Practical Guide/ by Shirley Hibberd. A nice old book, full of clear instruction and practical hints. Books of this description are often to be picked up on old bookstalls, and are very helpful, as being the A B C to more advanced modern books. 1855. ' Flora of the Colosseum of Borne,' by Eichard Deakin, M.D., with a print of the ruins of the Colosseum before the days of photography. I bought this book, I must confess, out of pure sentiment, as it is too strictly botanical to suit my ignorance. I spent a winter in Kome when I was a little girl, and the vegetation which grew all over the Colosseum, both plants and flowers, was deeply impressed on my mind. I never saw Eome again till about twelve years ago, when the scraped and tidy appearance of the Roman ruins, though no doubt necessary for their preservation for posterity, struck a cruel blow at my youthful recollections. This curious little book gives the botanical description of 420 plants growing spon- taneously on the ruins of the Colosseum at Rome. The record of this absolutely vanished vegetation has, I think, a touch of poetry of its own which can better be felt than expressed. The book has some little architec- tural illustrations of no great merit. 1855. 'Beautiful-Leaved Plants,' by B. J. Stone. This is a book rather interesting to the collector, and illustrative of a peculiarly bad period. Its quotations and general appearance are rather those of a c Lady Blessington Annual' than of a serious gardening book, but I should think it was a standard work on hothouse foliage plants. It has one great merit : the illustrations are in very bright colours, and the plant in full growth is printed in black and white on the opposite page; this is a first-rate way of illustrating a book of the kind. The letterpress gives a detailed botanical story of the NOVEMBER 231 plant illustrated, and the method of its cultivation. A useful book, I should imagine, for head-gardeners whose employers are fond of beautiful-leaved plants.