Pot-pourri from a Surrey garden

1892. ' The Garden of Japan,' by F. T. Piggott. A charming little book, the fascinating subject of which is described by the title. The illustrations are very nicely drawn ; among them are two or three interesting Japanese flower arrangements. In March Mr. Piggott, writing from Japan, says : ' Every garden is full of the small shrubs [Daphnes], and every shrub is full of flowers.' 1893. ' A Book about the Garden and the Gardener,' by S. Eeynolds Hole. This book is well worth having for a modern gardener. It gives a lot of instruction, and NOVEMBER 243 is written in a cheerful, parochial, kindly tone, most helpful to those who live rural lives in and near villages. He rejoices, as one would think everyone must, in the allotment system. He suggests in his preface that politicians should send horticultural teachers into our villages. This has now been done, and I am told the lectures given this winter in our own village at home have been most helpful and instructive. I myself should much like to see flower and vegetable shows managed on some other system. I think that prizes should be given for healthy quantity grown in a small space, and for the general clean and healthy appearance of well-stocked gardens. Such things are a great deal more important, for food- producing purposes, than that there should be a few giant Onions, Carrots, or Cabbages ; for size rarely adds to the excellence of vegetables. Dean Hole truly remarks that the allotment system will always have two opponents : there will always be idle men who will not have gardens, and ignorant men who will not know how to use them. 1894. ' Italian Gardens,' by Charles A. Platt. This is a book published in New York ; it is very pretty, and full of excellent reproductions of artistically taken photo- graphs. The letterpress describes the gardens. Of Villa Lante, at Bagni near Viterbo, there are four illustrations. The book was given to me by two kind American ladies, a mother and daughter, who came to spend a summer's day with me in my garden. They had been all round Europe, studying gardens large and small, and the daughter hoped to lay out some original and typical gardens in America^nat would be suitable to the soil and the climate ; also to try and preserve the beautiful flora of that country, which is in danger of dying away. I thought the idea interesting. In their time and way, under their blue skies and in their lovely situations, nothing, I imagine, will ever come near the beautiful Medician B2 244 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN gardens of Italy, which, even in their decay, are never forgotten by those who once have had the joy of wander- ing in them.