New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-20
WILD FLOWERS AND FERNS.
MANUALS FOR THE AMATEUR BOTAN1ST.

A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS BY Alice
Lounsberry. With sxty-four Coored and Ion, one
four urO Drawings by Mrs Ellis Rowan. With an
BY PI so Rg' Sompsn pp
HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS. A Guide to me
Names. Haunts and Habits of Our Common
Ferns BY FRANCES Theodore Par rs Ssep pn3
Smith octave, PIP. xiv, 2l5. Charles Scrlpher
Sons
II public interest in flowers and plants keeps
pace with the efforts of writers to put interest
ing information about them into readable form
everybody ought soon TO be qualified TO Keep up
garden and appreciate It, There IS an apunu-
ance of botanical knowledge abroad, ana WIN
1t there is plenty Of sympathy and unconVen-
tional enthusiasm. Plenty Of foollsh "riuiils
about flowers is circulated. but the good DOCKS
are in the majority. One of them is the 1uiue
10 the Wild Flowers" written by Alice Louns-
berry. She has systematized her facts IN COM
pact and convenient form She is practical and
terse and is also alive to the things Whlch are
not entirely matters Of fact Witness this brief
Introduction TO the chapter on plants growing
in mud bogs. swamps and marshes: over the
swamps life is gay and free for why should they
be dull when they may be merry. or why should
they throw out sparingly their bloom when
their soil tells them to send it out abundantiy!
the turtle travels slowly back from the nearest
nond. the blackbirris pipe and the oriole matches
the tint of his wing with the petals Of the mari
cold Grave willows have a fatherly care OF the
swat community and although King Carnival
masses IN and down. disorder never re1gns." Cd
vtouslv the writer of this has an eye FOR the
heautv as we'll as for the purely sclentlhc
knowledge TO be apprehended among the now
ers Her science and her sympathy, which nave
enabled her to tabulate every flower IN snort
naragraphs as interesting as they are erudite'
bava heen reinforced. may add, by lliustra-
,,ons hoth artistic and veracious. Those printed
~ co,ors are of course the most instructive out
the black and whites and the line drawings are
elso done with a skill that the student Will
volue With the aid Of the text and picture
one may easily identify in the fields ana WOODS
those flowers which are described. Thls Is
genuine guide book. a volume made for use out
of doors.
The anthor Of How TO Know the Ferns" Oh
serves that to her 1.-The greatest charm 'iie iei
,,o,sess is that of their surroundings" The re-
mark will be echoed by her readers But WIN
tho ferns as with the flowers one enjoys the
effect Of masses Of them the better FOR having
a minute acquaintance with their different
variet,es This is a notably thorough little VOL
ume The text is not volunhnous. and even WIN
us many fuli-page illustrations the BOOK IS
small; but brevity, we are GLAD 10 STE so
many writer's on nature learning is the hfst oi
virtues in this field 1t Is good to be eloquent
and occasionally poetical quotation may Dc
allowed. but the main thing Is to get ones data
well sifted and we'll arranged The author OF
.eHow to Grow the Ferns" has mastered her SUD-
iect and she treats it with authority.