Flower Gardening

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30094, 30 March 1963, Page 3

Flower Gardening

Flower Gardening with the Journal of Agriculture. By J. P. Salinger, J. S. Say, and K. H. Marcussen. Whitcombe and Tombs. 168 pp. In some respects the New Zealand home gardener has been poorly served by the horticultural writer for many years. A multiplicity of books is available on specialist subjects, but there are very few which are suited to the general gardener, who wants a single book to cover all his endeavours. “Flower Gardening with the Journal of Agriculture" will certainly fill this obvious gap. Three chapters discuss garden planning, including renovating existing gardens, three chapters deal with soils and manures, and tour with pest, disease and weed control, the tools and equipment required and useful weights and measures. The remaining 15 chapters discuss the propagation and use of the various groups of plants used in the garden. Many books make this information tedious reading, but the approach here is pleasantly distinct. The detailed information is given in very compact tabular form. Details are quickly and easily found without excessive reading. Information discussing arrangement, planting, pruning maintenance and other essential cultural details is of satisfying adequacy, since it has not been sacrified to the normal “descriptive lists” of varieties. In a book produced in this way a certain amount of repetition can be expected However, it does not obtrude and indeed it may even be beneficial to discuss, say. pests of lawns in both the chapter 6n lawns, and that on pests. The book is attractively produced—although the colour plates are not very true —and is well indexed.