New-York tribune., 1902-05-17
NATURE BOOKS.
OBSERVATIONS IN FOREST, GARDEN
AND FIELD.


pp. Sss- Mcclure, Phillips & Co.
THE BROOK BOOK. A First Acqualntance with
sT9ok yssT and M s Mans RosT me
pp. "a Doubleday Page co.
GARDEN CRAFT OLD AND NEW. BY John d.
Seeding SvO pp. XVI 25. John Lane
THE Ems GobDES b = P9PPF a BY E%Sry %I Eysns Smith
FLOWERS AND GARDENS. Notes on Plant
beauty BY Forbes Watson, Edited with a
Svo. Xxx. @A John Lane.
ACCORDING TO season: By Frances Theod9,ra n et,Ga
| by Elsie Louise Shaw 12mO. pp- 49, Charles
with an Introd1ction 6y Helen aIilman. From
| tispiece and Cover Design by Edmund II. New.
| John Lane
| "a babbled OF green fields"-of the turning
| and mellowing and entreating Of the good earth;
| OF the ways OF the friendly beasts and birds OF
| the farm; OF the wild things Of the forest and
the hunting thereof Next to the ground"-in~
| deed. to all the sweet. wholesome scents and
| sights and sounds of it.-dOes Mrs. William lead
| the reader of her fascinating book. Here is a
picture, indubitably true In all its details Of the
| cheerful farm life of middle Tennessee in the
| century just passed a simple and vivid style
| strengthens the charm Of incident and feeling.
What shall we quote? The story OF the pos
/ sum treed in the rich persimmOn under the
Hunters Moon? The chapter on the big snow.
| with its delightful memories of the hungry
| feathered folk it brought to- the farm? The
| story OF great fox hunt and of Lady. the
| famous hound, who ran all day and all night.
/ till her swift feet were raw and bleeding? The
description of the wild pigeon roOst known to
| long dead pioneers? Here is the curious reeol-
lection Of that pigeon army taken from the lips
| OF the farmer of White Oaks-he is looking back
| to the earlier years of the nineteenth century:
The feeding grounds lay hundreds OF miles
| away. yet the focks went out TO them at morn
! ing and came back from them at night
The going was like the moving of an army
| Flock after flock rose separately. poised itself
| and SKINNED away, one flock always waiting
| until another clear of the rOOst- Males and
females flew and roasted apart Male hocks
| flew highest in the air. There were feeding
| grounds both sides of the rOOSt. The hOcks flew
| north or south according to the wind. choosing
always TO go as near down wind as they could
| Thus it happened people living north or south OF
| the roost often did not see flying pigeon Tor
days, then all at once found the sky dark ana
| thick with them. coming or going. from the
earliest dawn TO long after dark flock never
came home until it was full fed; consequently
| those going out late or lighting upon ground al
| ready stripped, sometimes flew into the roost
| about midnight. Some few hundred sluggard
| stragglers and lame or wOunded olras red IN
| the woods and fields close about the roost.
| going out in half dozens, and flying even then
/ In the common wavering line
| At night the pigeon rOost was sight 10 see.
| 1t stretched several miles-aH along the hills,
/ indeed until the creek ran into the mill stream.
| The trees were talI-beeches. poplars. red and
/ Spanish oaks. white oaks, hckories tulip pop
lars and occasional naples. They were big. also.
| with sturdy branches spreading so they locked
/ we'll together But the sturdiness avatled moth
\ ing against the weight OF the maSsed pigeons
/ The birds settled in clouds, as thick as they
| could stick. wherever they found a foothold-
! Overloaded bousns broke under them al night
| long People came from far and near[at nrsc
| TO shoot, later simply 10 PICK UP tne oiIos
knocked down with lons poles or stunned BY the
falling boughs. The ground was covered with
| pigeon guano. feathers and dead oirus. aIlnousn
| hogs ranged underneath the trees and ate fat
| pigeons until even they could eat no more.
| The brook. going on forever wooes the nature
| lover irresistibly 10 it's banks What treasures
| OF spring flowers seek its banks, Here gleam
the faint pink of the Spring Beauty. the snow
of the triIliun. the heavenly blue of the forget
/ me-not the deeper blue of the violet. Water
/ plants wave TO and fro beneath its crystal,
| companioned by strange little water creatures;
/ spiders weave beside it, "striders' skate over
| it. dragon flies shoot about 1t, butterflies zig,
gag round it: small beasts drink from it. willows
/ and alde-s shadow il. All these agreeable ac-
| quaintances and many more Mrs. Miller deals
/ with in a vein light graceful and sufficiently
| instructive. Now and then, in wandering by
! the brookside.' the haunter OF sylvan solitudes
/ comes upon some of Natures oddities. One OF
/ these is the "witchs broom" OF the willow.
| Only a single specimen has been seen by the
/ author, who was much impressed by the un-
/ Canny growth: "Stung TO desperation py tne
| attacks of tiny mite in its growing points,
the willow branch develops beyond all reason
The growth Of the main shoot having been ar
/ rested the side buds set for next years growth.
suddenly burst forth and put out leaves and
/ buds These buds. too. stimulated. and in
turn perform their duty two years too soon-
As the weeks of unnatural development go on.
the mass OF branches and twigs and leaves be-
! comes denser and denser. suggesting mammoth
crows nest. No wonder they call ii 'witch's
broom There is enough witchery about the
growth Of such tangle of ambitious branches
TO give color to the superstition, and as cob
web eradicator in regions celestial Ii could
have no equal The facts Of it's history al
most as marvellous as the fancies. I hope my
willows may never produce another broom. One
in lifetime is quite enough for me and for the
tree that bore it,"
That idealization of Nature which is a gar
den is quantity. POLITICALLY and altogether de-
Iightfully treated in the late John Seedlings
Garden Craft" Sedding architect of
eminence in London, a designer OF genius and
the second Master Of the Art Workers Guild
His was refined childlike and most IovabIe
character character which made as deep a
mark in his world as did his artistic powers
His passion for garden-craft came to him late
in life. and it's beguilement was all the stronger
for the delay. He loved his work with spade
and trowel in MS garden. and the text OF this
book shows that he loved as well the task OF
writing about gardens 1t characteristics
Of his taste that in treating the technics of
gardening he should lay stress on following
Nature as much as possible. Simplicity. breadth
of effect natural wildness when possible are
what he advises. Nature admonishes us how
"a set ahO he in m