1848. 'The Rose Garden,'by William Paul. This is a most interesting publication as regards plant growth, increased variety, and the utter collapse and deterioration of the art of illustrating. Viewed by the light of Redoute's Rose book, it is like turning from a Greek goddess to the stoutest of matrons. The poor Rose!-it has swelled and amplified under cultivation to a despairing degree; but the execution of the plates is answerable for much, no doubt. We have now the figure of the Bourbon Rose, called 'souvenir de la Malmaison' Roses have increased apace in the quarter of a century since Redoute painted them, but many of the Roses in this book are now called old-fashioned. The plans and instructions for Rose gardens are not what are now admired, and, one would say, are singularly unsuited to the spreading wild growth of healthy Roses.

1854. 'A History of British Ferns,'by Edward Newman. Enthusiastic gardeners in the 'Fifties gave a great deal of time and attention to Ferns. Now, people wisely do not attempt them where they will not grow. My other Fern book, published in 1868, is 'select Ferns and Lycopods, British and Exotic,'by B. S. Williams. A useful book, as Fern-growing in stoves and greenhouses will always be well worth while. (No date, but I imagine in the 'Fifties.) 'Profitable Gardening: a Practical Guide,' by Shirley Hibberd. A nice old book, full of clear instruction and practical hints. Books of this description are often to be picked up on old bookstalls, and are very helpful, as being the A B C to more advanced modern books.

1855. 'Flora of the Colosseum of Borne,'by Richard Deakin, M.D., with a print of the ruins of the Colosseum before the days of photography. I bought this book, I must confess, out of pure sentiment, as it is too strictly botanical to suit my ignorance. I spent a winter in Rome when I was a little girl, and the vegetation which grew all over the Colosseum, both plants and flowers, was deeply impressed on my mind. I never saw Rome again till about twelve years ago, when the scraped and tidy appearance of the Roman ruins, though no doubt necessary for their preservation for posterity, struck a cruel blow at my youthful recollections. This curious little book gives the botanical description of 420 plants growing spontaneously on the ruins of the Colosseum at Rome. The record of this absolutely vanished vegetation has, I think, a touch of poetry of its own which can better be felt than expressed. The book has some little architectural illustrations of no great merit.

1855. 'Beautiful-Leaved Plants,'by E. J. Stone. This is a book rather interesting to the collector, and illustrative of a peculiarly bad period. Its quotations and general appearance are rather those of a 'Lady Blessington Annual' than of a serious gardening book, but I should think it was a standard work on hothouse foliage plants. It has one great merit: the illustrations are in very bright colours, and the plant in full growth is printed in black and white on the opposite page; this is a first-rate way of illustrating a book of the kind. The letterpress gives a detailed botanical story of the plant illustrated, and the method of its cultivation. A useful book, I should imagine, for head-gardeners whose employers are fond of beautiful-leaved plants.

1869. 'The Parks, Promenades, and Gardens of Paris,'by W. Robinson. This is the earliest of many most interesting books that I possess by Mr. Robinson; a book full of information, branching into many directions. The third, and I believe last, edition, with the illustrations much improved, was published in 1883.

Next comes, in 1871, his 'sub-tropical Garden, or Beauty of Form in the Flower Garden.' This second title refers to that which, to my mind, is the great value and interest of the book, and to be attained almost entirely as well by hardy plants as by sub-tropical ones. In 1871, however, the idea was new, and is even now but most indifferently carried out or understood in nine out of ten gardens that one sees, in spite of all Mr. Robinson's invaluable teaching both in this and many other of his books.

'Alpine Flowers for English Gardens.'Mine is the third edition. The illustrations are popular, and inferior to those in most of Mr. Robinson's books. How much joy do the Alps recall to thousands of people ! Even for those who do not enjoy mountain scenery, there are always the lakes and the flora.

Avec leurs grands sommets, leurs glaces eternelles Par un soleil d'ete que les Alpes sont belles !

Some of Mr. Ruskin's happiest lines, I think, are in the 'Mont Blanc revisited ':

0 mount beloved, my eyes again Behold the twilight's sanguine stain Along thy peaks expire;

0 mount beloved, thy frontier waste

1 seek with a religious haste And reverent desire.

And who can ever think of Switzerland apart from Matthew Arnold's two wonderful Obermann poems ? Do not some spirits still exist who slip 'their chain' with Matthew Arnold ?

And to thy mountain chalet come,

And lie beside its door, And hear the wild bees'Alpine hum,

And thy sad, tranquil lore.

Again I feel the words inspire

Their mournful calm-serene, Yet tinged with infinite desire

For all that might have been.

De Senancour ! how these poems 'To Obermann'have carried your melancholy eloquence from the early years of the century to its very end !

The first edition of the 'Wild Garden'was published in 1881, and of all modern illustrated flower-books it is the only one I know that makes me feel really enthusiastic. The drawings in it, by Mr. Alfred Parsons, are exquisite and quite original. At the time of its publication the method was new, and, to my mind, it has not yet been surpassed. I have also the fourth edition, which came out in 1894, with much new matter and several new illustrations, especially landscapes; but I prefer the first edition-perhaps because we get fond of the particular edition that originally gave pleasure.