12 SEPTEMBER 1903, Page 24

The literature of the garden has a welcome, we may

say a necessary, addition in Garden Pests, by Phcebe Allen (Wells Gardner, Darton, and Co., 3s. 6d.) It is written in a humorous fashion, which does not, however, hinder its practical utility. The various "pests" are supposed to be brought up before a Court of Justice and their cause is pleaded. A wireworm, for instance, is arraigned, and the counsel for the defence points out that out of sixty species of wireworms only a few can be proved guilty of doing serious damage. Miss Allen does not keep up her form quite consistently, but she has written an amusing and serviceable book.