In My Vicarage Garden and Elsewhere. By the Rev. Henry
N. Ellacombe. (J. Lane. 5s. net.)—This volume is a continuation of the author's " My Vicarage Garden," though in part of it, as in- dicated by the word " Elsewhere" in the title, he goes further afield. In the first part (pp. 1-56) we may mention "A Backward Spring," especially interesting now when we are enjoying a season of a different character. It was written in 1891, when the winter was long and lasted late. Bilton, where the author lives, can hardly be a cold place, but the daffodils were not out in Lent. This year, though Easter was very early, they were abundant. (By the way, when we quote Shakespeare's " Take the winds of March with beauty" we must remember the difference of style ; Tennyson remembered it, and speaks of an "April daffodilly," though we admit that he also spoke of March as " the roaring moon of daffodil and crocus.") The other two sections of the book have very varied con- tents. We may mention " The Rock Garden," with its very instructive suggestions,—such gardens are not easy to make or to people with well-suited inhabitants. " Plant Names," " The Scents of Flowers," and " Railway Gardens " may also be mentioned. The last of these might advantageously be printed by the railway companies and circulated among stationmasters. The Great Western Railway give a prize to be competed for by their officials ; an excellent idea, as any one who has seen the very picturesque Kemble Junction (for Cirencester and Tetbnry) will acknowledge. Canon Ellacombe mentions some fine growths of plants to be seen at various spots. We may add the heather at Barming, on the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway. We must not forget the chapter on the " Flora of England Eighteen Hundred Years Ago."
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