Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
CHINA, MOTHER OF GARDENS.
Ernest H. Wilson, M. A., v. M. II.
The Stratford Co
I. G.. M.

CHINA, MOTHER OF GARDENS.
Ernest H. Wilson, M. A., v. M. II.
The Stratford Co.
For Washington the earliest herald
OF Spring Is the yellow bloom, forSyth1a.
While February even Is still deep In
the Winter business OF weaving gray
clouds from which, according to mood
or temper, 1t Sits out snow. rain or
sleet, or releases Shivery winds to
branches to rasping contentious among
themselves-even then, here and there
in the city parks may be seen scattered
advance courierS OF the new season OF
warmth and greenery.
Don't you mind February" these
valiant yellow jackets are saying. Feb
ruary is the biggest buffer Of the whole
IL. No, take 1t from us, Spring is
really at hand, just below Richmond"
Surely enough, In q week, two weeks,
the parks and certain south-fronting
terraces have become spiked battalions
Of pure gold, diffusing a deeper SUM-
light suffusing all roundabout in an
indeScribable glamour. The forSythia
is in bloom!
"You know I assume" said the man,
that the forsythia Is not native of
this city, nor of the United States
even. No, it is q Chinese immigrant,
naturalized to be sure and meeting all
the dues of full citizenship, but an
No, didn't know. Interesting, I
thought. And the man went on to
say that the magnolia, also, that close
rival Of the forSythia for Spring honors
In this locality, came from the far land
OF rice and tea, Of temples and buddhaS
and mandarins. This Is q Chinese
tree'-we were standing in Franklin
Park at the moment. Easy to believe,
too, for the lone Paulownia carries an
alien air. an away-from- home implica-
ton. Its leaves, fallen and brown, look
mauve panicles of bloom hint of strange
skies and far soils. Since you are in
tereSted, have a book for you" said
the man. And he went on his way.
Here 1t Is, China. Mother Of Gar
dens," written by Chinese Wilson" as
they called him in affection over there,
where he spent more than 10 years
hunting the plant life of Western China
Scientist, biologist. botanist, therefore
He Is much besides, however. The book
makes that clear. Had 1t held but the
flora of China, treated in the manner of
the scientific expert, then this volume
would have belonged exclusively to the
savant in that field, to the student Of
special bent, to the dim corners of GER
tain embalmed libraries. It Is, I'M
deniably, a book Of such high mission.
But 1t Is also your book and mine. For
behind the scientist here is man. He
is moreover, full-blooded adventurer
He Is in love with the wild country,
bound to pursue it, bent on winning it
and he does. He wins 1t for us, Just
average readers LISTING for far places,
for more OF the wonders Of the world.
wild country. No Suave gesture went
into its making. Rather, ,enraged
giants hurled these mountains up
against the sky, leaving below every
manner Of tortured earth-sheer depths,
black chasms. awful precipices, bursting
Streams-a terrifying country, this
Wilson came to so many strange ac-
countingS. History walks beside him,
or climbs, or delves, or hunts, as the
moment demands. The Marco Polos,
the Portuguese navigators, the Dutch
traders, these and others step in to play
their parts at this point and that one.
And Just the common folks gather
round in all their daily ways Of making
shift with food and shelter as they move
on, and out. One sees the actual life
OF these far Hupeh people, how they
make faint contacts with Eastern China,
where the mad streams have widened
to great rivers OF placider mood, &C
commodating travel. where the torn sur
face has Smoothed to rice tillage, where
trade Is reaching out to distant places.
AS we read here we turn, many times,
to the pictures of this book, surprising
pictures without which even the plain
speaking of the author, without which
his dramatic descriptions even, would be
less effective than they so clearly are.
And all the time We are deeply i'm
pressed with the fact, and urged to
further pursuit, by learning how much
we really do owe this gardening mother,
China. Our roses, many OF them, our
peonies chrysanthemumS, azaleaS, pr1m-
roses, peaches, oranges. lemons, grape
fruits, all come originally from the CIV
ing hand of this bountiful Mother Of
Gardens"
A fascinating and useful book whose
author has written other books, PLANT
Hunting" "Aristocrats of the Garden"
Americas Greatest Garden" The last
of these is the story of Arnold Arbore-
tum in Boston, Of which Ernest Wilson
Is in charge. Now just q word for the
book itself-a personality of q book, an
achievement in art applied to the special
craft Of book making. To say that the
book, as a thing made, as a piece OF
craftsmanship, is in perfect harmony
with the theme and It's treatment Is, I
except that to own the whole, the con-
tent and its housing, would make one
book indeed!
Il y Il +
THE wITCHERY OF WASPs. Edward
G. Reinhard. The Century Co.
"Wasps" and "witchery" seem hardly
to consort easily-unleSS, perhaps, IN
the old Salem implication. However,
there is q story that has grown from
| intimate association between a man and
this seemingly lowly form OF animal
creation. We recall that Henri Fabre
one or another friend of the insect
| world. We recall that such friendship
became the medium Of deep revelation
on the one hand and of finely poetic
| literature on the other. One needs TO
90 but q little way In the observation
| Of animals-any animal, the cat, the
dog, the pigeon, the sparrow, or any
| other creature, commonly called "a
lower animal"-to discover that within
their range of need they seem 70 as
play a knowledge Of ways and means
comparable to those made use OF by
! man himself Such in the main is this
authors attitude before the solitary
wasp" which here serves as example OF
the curious intelligences and powers
possessed in such large measure by all
creation-even by plant life as well as
| by animal life.
It appears here that wasps. like the
rest of us, are social" on the one hand,
SOLITARY" on the other. 1t is with the
latter that Mr.. Reinhard set up the
| long fellowship from which this clearly
charming wasp story came to pass. The
common fields are MIR. Reinhard's hunt
| ing ground. Then suddenly, under the
urge of drama, fields become q stage
across which the actors move In some
tremendous effort to climax action
| with success and triumph. And how
much like us they do behaved