20 JUNE 1908, Page 26

The Summer Garden of Pleasure. By Mrs. Stephen Batson. (Methuen

and Co. 15s.)—There is no need to apologise for this dew book on gardening, with all the possibilities of enjoyment that it opens up for the appreciative reader, set off as they are by fr.

Osmund Pittman's charming pictures. Mrs. Batson begins with the " Wild Garden," which is equivalent to beginning, as the gardener is bound to do, with spring. Next to this comes a chapter on "Hardy Primroses," which will enlighten the reader as to the great variety which he can command in this direction. (We would say a word for the oxlip, which takes very kindly to nitivation.) Irises, paeonies, larkspur, lilies, and many other beauties of Flora pass us in long procession. Altogether, we have bare a delightful and useful book.