plan, a perspective view is given of a French garden, in which, however, there is no parterre. It is partly copied from a plate of Le Rouge, Recueil, &c., and partly invention. Literally, it consists of three straight hedges cut into arcades, with one hedge of arcades placed at right angles to them; and twelve parallelogram beds, with a number of statues, vases, and figures which might be introduced into any garden whatever.

The attempt to give an idea of the Italian garden is exactly of the same kind as that intended to describe the French garden; and it is quite amusing to observe the two woodcuts that are given to illustrate it. One of these is a view of the Isola Bella; and the other is a composition. In the last are brought together the pheasantry designed by Repton for the palace at Brighton; an Indian tank and fountain, also designed by Repton for the same palace; the gloriette in the park at Schönbrunn; and various objects, which have no more to do with an Italian garden, than they have with any other. The mistake in the compilation of this view of a garden consists in its being filled with ornaments common to any style, instead of exhibiting those features of the Italian style which are characteristic of it, and independent of any ornament.

It would be easy to prove that all that the author has written respecting the Dutch and the English styles is equally insufficient to effect the object of the book, as already quoted from the prospectus; but we have done enough, we trust, to prove our first proposition.

By controversial spirit, we allude to certain pages occupied with discussions which took place in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, respecting the excrementitious secretions of plants; and, by ill-nature, we allude to a spirit which manifests itself in many pages of the work, of the author's disposition to find fault where he can. It is a rule with us never to say anything in the review of a book that we should shrink from repeating in the presence of the author. of the author. In the present case, we should have said a great deal more; but that, among other reasons, we dislike the idea of decrying any work; and more especially one which, considering the decorations with which it is accompanied, is cheap. Every number of the work is ornamented with one or more groups of flowers, printed in colours by the very ingenious process invented by Mr. Baxter, and which will probably effect a great improvement in all books requiring coloured illustrations.

ART. VII. Catalogue of Works on Gardening, Agriculture, Botany, Rural Architecture, &c., lately published, with some Account of those considered the more interesting.

A SMALL Edition of English Botany; containing the Plants of

Great Britain, arranged according to the Linnæan Method, and briefly described. Nos. 193. and 194., November. Price 2s. Figures and Descriptions of the Genera of British Flowering Plants, with the Scientific and English Names, Linnæan Class and Order, Natural Order, Generic and Specific Characters, References to the most popular Botanical Works, Localities, Time of flowering, and Dissections, showing the Essential Characters. By William Baxter, F.H.S., A.L., and M.B.S., &c., Curator of the Botanic Garden, Oxford. No. 64., November. Coloured, 1s. 6d. ; plain, 1s.

These works continue to go on in the same spirited manner as before. A considerable number of species or varieties, or of varieties new to the British flora, are introduced in Mr. Sowerby's work, on the authority of eminent British botanists; and, in Mr. Baxter's number for November, Claytònia alsinöìdes is figured as an English plant, on the authority of Mr. Paxton, who found it" in an elevated part of a large plantation bordering Chatsworth Park, unquestionably wild.” We need hardly repeat our strong recommendation of these works to all who wish to know anything of indigenous botany.

Icones Plantarum; or, Figures, with brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks, of new or rare Plants, selected from the Author's Herbarium. By Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H., LL.D., F.R.A., and L.S., &c., and Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. Parts I to IV. Price 14s. each.

This work being now completed, agreeably to the prospectus published in our last, p. 507., we have only again strongly to recommend it.

The Gardener's Gazette, a Weekly Journal of Science, Literature, and General News. London. Weekly. 5d.

The idea of publishing a Gardener's Gazette is a good one: it forms an exceedingly convenient medium for the publication of the accounts of the provincial horticultural and floricultural societies, and for the advertisements of nurserymen, florists, and others connected with gardening. We must, however, complain of the editor for filling his columns, and sometimes entire pages, with articles from this Magazine; sometimes of great length, as was the case of our article on the truffle, which was divided into three portions, published in three different gazettes, and only acknowledged at the end of the last. The editor is perfectly welcome to abuse us as much as he chooses, if he thinks it will be of any advantage to him to do so; but we must protest against his making use of our property to the extent which he has done. We appeal to his sense of justice and honour, whether it is fair to do this, and how he would like it if he were placed in our situation.

The Magazine of Domestic Economy. In monthly 8vo numbers, 1. to 29. Price 6d. each. London.

This is an exceedingly useful periodical, which deserves to be extensively circulated. The only thing which surprises us respecting it is, that there is not a greater number of original correspondents; but this is to be accounted for from there being no editor's name. A magazine, where the articles it contains stand on their own intrinsic merits, may gain the confidence of the public under anonymous editorship; but this is much less likely to be the case where the object is the collection and dissemination of matters of fact, not so much from books as from living persons.

On the Varieties, Properties, and Classification of Wheat. By John Le Couteur, Esq., Captain H. P. late 104th Regiment, Colonel 1st Regiment Royal Jersey Militia, Aide de Camp to the King. Jersey, 1836. 8vo, 122 pages, and 5 plates. Shearsmith, London.

The importance of selecting varieties suitable for different soils and climates, of the principal plants in cultivation in the garden and farm, may be said to be just beginning to be understood; and it ought not to be forgotten that one of the first persons to call attention to this subject was Mr. David Bishop, in his Causal Botany, pulished in 1829. (See Vol. V. p. 455., and Vol. VI. p. 99.) Colonel Le Couteur's attention was directed to the subject in 1831, when "he accidentally saw, with astonishment and pleasure, about 80 distinct sorts of wheat growing in a nursery garden in Jersey; some 7 ft. high, some only 4 ft.; the ears of some 3 in. long, others 6 in.

"Professor La Gasca, whose they were, happened to join me ; and, though a stranger, he politely explained their nature to me.

'I requested him to visit my crops the following day. I considered them as pure, at least as unmixed, as those of my neighbours; when, to my dismay, he drew from three fields three and twenty sorts; some white wheat, some red, some liver-coloured; some spring wheat; some dead ripe, the corn shaking out; some ripe, some half so; some in a milky state, and some green. "I reflected on the subject, and immediately became convinced that no crop, in that state, could either produce the greatest weight of corn, give the largest quantity of flour, or make the best or lightest bread, such as would be produced from a field in an equal and perfect state of ripeness.

"I directly conceived a plan to endeavour practically to ascertain the relative properties of the best and most productive sorts of wheat. I requested Professor La Gasca to show me those which he considered the best. He pointed out fourteen sorts: these I grew with extreme care, in the mode that will be described hereafter.

"The great first principle I wish to advocate is, the proper adaptation of varieties of wheat to the various soils and climates; since it is the suitableness of each sort to each soil that will enable the farmer to pay the rent of his land, by sowing one variety where he would be unable to do so by attempting to grow another of a seemingly better sort."

In the 1st chapter, "on the Varieties of Wheat," the author observes that, though much has been written on the subject,

"No writer has yet called the attention of the agricultural world to the cultivation of pure sorts, originating from one single grain. It is contended that this has been the root of all evil."

"The learned Professor had been theoretically employed in the classification and scientific examination of wheat as a plant, in the research and consideration of all its varieties; but it had escaped him to consider it in its properties with relation to the food of man. This practical view the author took of it, and he determined to attempt to discover which were the most farinaceous and productive varieties, by comparing their characters and produce, one with another."

The great value of Colonel Le Couteur's conclusions consists in his having combined the consideration of quality, as well as quantity, in his researches; and accordingly, in the tabular views which he has given of his experiments, some varieties are proved to be remarkable for the length, strength, and weight of their straw; others for the weight of their grain, and the number of loaves that may be made from a bushel of the flour; some for the colour of the grain, &c.; some varieties are tender and late, and others hardy and early, and so on. But we must refer the agriculturist to Colonel Le Couteur's pamphlet. From Mr. Lawson of Edinburgh, M. Vilmorin of Paris, or Mr. Charlwood of London, we believe that seeds of the best varieties may be procured in moderate quantities.

We have said enough, we trust, to show that Colonel Le Couteur has rendered a very important service to the growers of wheat, not only in Britain, but in every part of the world, where that grain is cultivated; and we only wish that British farmers had sufficient acuteness and nicety of calculation, to benefit from the facts which he has elicited by experiment. In the mean time, we trust that Colonel Le Couteur will prosecute his researches, and that other scientific agriculturists will take up the subject as he has done, in different parts of the country.

The following extract from a letter lately received from Colonel Le Couteur will give an idea of the nicety of calculation that is requisite to the thorough understanding of the importance of the subject. We introduce it not only because we know that a number of agriculturists read our Magazine, as well as gardeners, but also because we think it will teach the young gardener to apply this kind of calculation to subjects connected with his profession: for example, to the weight and quality of vegetables cut green, and to roots, fruits, &c.

"It is surprising how seriously the seasons affect wheat, though in the best soils, and those soils under careful preparation. No. 1. (Jersey Dantzic), of which, in 1833, 27 grains weighed a scruple, this year required 33 to make that weight. No. 2. (Small Round) is still smaller in 1833, 28 grains weighed 1 scruple, but in 1837, it required 40. No. 5, in 1833, required 20 grains for 1 scruple, and in 1837, 30 grains. No. 8, in 1833, required 23 grains to make 1 scruple, but in 1836, 24 grains. The Triticum æstivum var. Talavera bellevuensis is the only sort which remains at 19 grains to a scruple. This difference in the weight of grains to a given quantity, carried on to a bushel, next to a quarter, then to an acre, and lastly to the produce

of a great country, readily accounts for the astonishing difference of the value of crops in different seasons."

Col. Le Couteur has kindly sent us five samples of his best varieties, which we have divided equally, between Samuel Taylor, Esq., Whittingham, Stokeferry, Norfolk; Mr. Gorrie, Annat Gardens, near Errol, Perth ; and Mr. Laird, nurseryman, Dundee. Chemistry of Nature, designed as a popular Exposition of the Chemical Constitution and Relations of Natural Objects, and as a General Introduction to the Study of Chemical Science. By Hugo Reid, Lecturer on Chemistry to the Glasgow High School, and Glasgow Mechanics' Institute. 8vo, 312 pages. This is just such a book as we have long wished to see published; an introduction to chemistry adapted to general readers, who have not the means of performing chemical experiments, or who do not wish to do so. The following extract from the preface will give such an idea of this little book as will, we trust, strongly recommend it to every young gardener:

"This Work is not designed to convey instructions for performing experi ments, but as a book to be read by those who may desire some general knowledge of the nature of chemical phenomena, the method of chemical research, and the manner in which chemical experiments are commonly made; and who may feel an interest in studying those natural phenomena which consist in chemical actions. Being convinced that a complete knowledge of the subject is always desired, even by those who read only for general information, those topics which the volume embraces are entered into very fully, so that a satisfactory knowledge of them may be obtained.

"The author hopes that, from the explanatory manner in which the subjects are treated, and the interest which always accompanies descriptions of the how and why in natural phenomena, the work may be useful as an introduction to the study of chemistry, even for those who intend to pursue the science more fully afterwards. It is of great advantage, before entering on any study, to have a general notion of its scope and bearing, and of the terms employed. These are two striking features in the state of science in modern times; the great amount of scientific knowledge which has been acquired, and the adaptation of that knowledge so as to be accessible to all who possess the simple qualification of being able to read. Mankind have not been slow to avail themselves of the opportunities thus presented to them; and scientific information has been found so useful, so agreeable, and now so essential, from the very circumstance of its universal diffusion, that it is beginning to be con sidered a necessary part of a general education,"

History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme. By the Rev. W. B. Stonehouse, M.A. Parts I. and II. 4to, plates and

maps.

This work is noticed here on account of the very excellent description which it contains, illustrated by two plans of the process of warping (p. 36. to 44.) We are not aware of there being so full a description of the process given in any other work. The account of Vermuyden's drainage is also very interesting; and there is an excellent description (p. 68. and 69.) of a decoy. VOL. XIII.- No. 93.

RR