New-York tribune., 1909-10-02
RICHARD .JEFFERIES.
II BiOgrdphy; and T7cO Nezc Garden
Books.

RIGHAEP W6FK FdTaIi 5s LIFE AND HIS
pp. $40, Little, Brown Co.
DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS. Painted by
NINA Nixon; Described by Una Silberrad and
pany
A LITTLE MARYLAND GARDEN. BY Helen
Ashe hays Illustrated l2mo PIP. POI. @. Z.
Putnam'S Sons.
Richard Jefferies. who died in his thirty-eighth
year. lives and will probably continue to live in
at least two of his books. In these he subtIy
and vividly pictured countryside humanity the
aspects of field and wood. and the ways of the
wild creatures therein. a dreamer and poet in
the fibre of his soul. he developed something like
genius in the Interpretation of the beauty of the
visible world. He came of a yeoman race. and
had himself no education to speak Of but in his
blood was the love Of books that men of his
name had cherished. and he had the precious
gift of words He was a reserved and lonely
boy. never strong in health. and not much liked
by his fellows. He had no taste for the toll of
the paternal farm and early turned TO news
paper work for the winning of bread. lie pro
duced novels which better forgotten since
they were unreal. crude and silly-the Intellectual
efforts Of an inexperienced youth to deal with a
life Of which he knew nothing. 1t was not until
he nearly thirty that his powers came to
fruition, and he wrote the books which made
his reputation-the books in which his minute
observation Of Nature and his delight in all her
phases found expression
His was life SO uneventful that his biogra-
pher has been enabled to make big book only
by means of description of his country alb
stracts of his writings and copious extracts
Analysis Of the mans mental and spiritual
processes and Of his works is drawn out 10 the
point of surfeit, and is, in fact, cruel injustice
10 the author Mr.. Thomas admires since with
this and his borrowed passages presented in
disjointed shape, he brushes the bloom from
Jefferiess prose for the sensitive reader All
that is important in his volume could have been
put into a brief monograph We do not find
these chapters of literary divagation worth the
time they consume. Aside from few state
ments concerning Jefferiess ancestry and fam
lily the following sentences show how much or
how little the biographer has to deal with in
the story Of the man who spent the greater part
of his short life in the valleys and on the hills
Of four English counties:
His reading Was wide. but of eccentric range. In
h@aDlts @ ne was always simple. and he did nothing
inlde feW friends; his habit Of taking long soil
sec;pg wiSSc sa ana & ateT ms III health kept him from
TONS and The fIiends of simple tastes among
affected in their company. am with them as win
ntefary and 9thel acquaintances, he talked not
much. hut easily his own subjects and on cur
rent matters He wrote few. letters and in none
1bpaTenny 5 ae EXPRESSED himself with anything like
,,..t ,r .:.tpeT eeoisn. ot ms books His life
m WeI; noqTished by his own energy and
he-iI'h- which, m its turn threatened poverty So
long AS he could send articles TO the papers AMI
magazines he was well Of but seldom able tu
save He enjoyed simply and passionately his own
enjoyment survives
II is pleasant picture of Dutch life and it is
a charming picture Of flower culture that are
placed before us by Miss Silberrad and Miss
Lyall- They dwell that delightful virtue Of
Holland. its industry-which has no resemblance.
they would have as know to the quality called
"hustlinG.' The Dutch they say strike one as
more industrious than anything else in the
world, unless, perhaps, ants" And as for neat
ness!--- THE national IDEAL they declare .at
least in the bulb district is cleanliness About
the highest praise to be bestowed on anything is
that IL is clean fine tulip bulb in its shining
yellow brown skin is extolled as so clean; the
curious. sandy soil in which the bulbs grow is
spoken Of with pride as always clean. the great
compliment to be paid TO "A bulb barn is that It
is clean Possibly Of the advantages of the
growers work is that il is clean OF that work
the authors give many interesting details. de-
tails which show that if the grower no longer
gets the fantastic prices that were paid for tulip
bulbs -wo hundred years ago he still takes as
much pleasure in the occupation as his an
cestors did, and works after their fashion To
those who would fain the Dutch bulb gar
dens in their most delicious estate the authors
recommend a leisurely visit IN early summer
when the great of flowers is over and only
the later and fewer bulbs are in bloom Then,
they say there is opportunity to know them as
individuals. and appreciate the exquisite con-
trast Of iris colors and green hedges, and 10 see
10 fun advantage ranuncuus and the early
blooming gadioli and the hundred varieties Of