would have enhanced the value of his book, if he had thoroughly studied the works of other writers before he took up his pen. Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona; and it savors somewhat of affectation to treat them with indifference. One need not copy the absurdities of any writers in this department; but he will be likely to form a more liberal judgment if he is familiar with all their opinions; and the pleasure of reading a book on this subject is heightened by occasional references to preceding authors, just as other literary productions are rendered more acceptable by possessing the flavor of the ancient and modern classics. We surmise, however, that Mr. Kemp has more book-learning than he chooses to acknowledge.

His work is divided as follows:- Part I. Preliminary Considerations as to the Choice of a Place. II. What to Avoid. III. What to Attain. Under this head we have chapters on General Principles, General Objects, Particular Objects, and Special Departments. Part IV. contains practical directions on Draining, Hedging, Planting, Road-Making, Lawns, &c., &c. Under these titles our author distributes much valuable matter. One can find little fault with his statement of general principles; it is chiefly in his management of practical details that he exposes himself to criticism, as in the following instances. In his lists of trees and shrubs recommended for general planting, he has placed many which are altogether too tender for northern climates. In his plans of flowergardens, he sometimes errs by scattering beds over the lawns, thereby giving the grounds a spotted look by no means pleasing. Had he read, or not forgotten, what Mr. Loudon has written about "the dotting system," he would have avoided this puerility. In his plans for carriage-roads, Mr. Kemp occasionally falls into the error, already too common in practice, of leading such roads directly in front of the house, and of having a circular drive through the front lawn, the drive being cut around a group of shrubbery before the principal door. This arrangement is objectionable, because the clump of shrubbery and the circular drive monopolize the space which should be devoted to an expanse of unbroken sod, and because the driving of horses before the main entrance VOL. XCI. NO. 188.

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interferes with the privacy of the parlors, and is quite sure to tear up and defile the gravel of the walks.

These are the principal exceptions which need be made to Mr. Kemp's book. Taken altogether, it merits the highest commendation. Its leading principles are correct, and its practical directions are for the most part judicious, minute, and clearly expressed. Seldom have we seen so much matter condensed into so small a space. It must take rank among the best works of the kind in the English language.

The second book mentioned at the beginning of this article is one to which an interest of a different sort attaches. It is an American production, the larger part of it written by the lamented Downing, and the Supplement by a friend of kindred spirit and acquirements. With the original work, the public had long been familiar: it had passed through six editions, and was still read and admired by all lovers of the refined pursuits which it advocates and explains. But, during the lapse of eighteen years since its publication, new trees, shrubs, vines, and plants had been introduced, and longer experience had given its verdict on the merits of the older favorites ; considerable improvement had been made in the methods of arranging and planting ornamental grounds; and the country, having advanced in wealth and refinement, demanded further instruction in the arts which embellish rural life. For these and other reasons, it seemed quite desirable that a new edition of this work should be prepared, bringing the subject in all respects up to the condition and wants of the present day. This has been done by Mr. Sargent. A gentleman of finished scholarship, with a natural taste for arboriculture, cultivated by various reading and observation and by practice on his own estate, as well as liberalized by foreign travel, he was just the person to revise the pages of Downing, and to add to them whatever improvements had recently been made in this department. It will enhance the reader's interest in the work, to know that the labors of the editor were bestowed gratuitously, for the benefit of Mr. Downing's family,-"a voluntary enriching of the widow's bequest," Mr. Willis observes, "for which, aside from the especial merits of his work, Mr. Sargent will possess an honored place in the calendar of memorable friendships."

The original treatise of Downing remains unchanged, except by the addition of a few pictorial sketches of trees and shrubs, and of foot-notes, correcting, expanding, or otherwise illustrating the text. The Supplement by the editor extends to nearly one hundred and fifty pages, adding fully one third to the size of the volume. These pages are adorned with several highly-finished steel engravings and woodcuts, representing some of the finest villas and grounds in this country, together with plans of parks, and sketches of new and rare trees. It is obvious at first glance, that the editor rightly conceived the work to be done, and close inspection will show that he has performed it well. He is more practical than Mr. Downing. He tells us plainly, and in the fewest words, what to do and how to do it. He warns us against errors, and gives many useful hints drawn largely from his own experience. On some points, perhaps, critics and practical planters will disagree with him slightly, and we may refer to one or two of these as we proceed; but the work as a whole is so excellent, that it deserves, as it is receiving, from the reading public, a hearty approval. It must long remain the leading authority in its department.

We propose to make a few remarks on several topics suggested by the books before us. And in so doing, we shall follow the example of our authors, dealing less with the theory than with the practical details of the landscape art. The first subject which presents itself is that of Evergreens, as a feature in Ornamental Grounds. The English have long been specially fond of this class of trees. Only six or eight species are indigenous with them, yet enthusiastic planters have traversed the globe in search of new sorts, and have now acclimated in that little island, in species and varieties, nearly one hundred. Their winters are shorter and less severe than ours, yet they consider a country-place poorly planted which does not abound with verdure all the year. Mr. Kemp offers no special plea for these trees, the mind of his countrymen is already made up; but Mr. Sargent devotes an important part of his work to evergreens, knowing that Americans do not suitably appreciate their usefulness and beauty. For this he is to be thanked. Our country has more native Conifers than

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any other, and our climate favors the introduction of many from foreign lands; yet these treasures are comparatively disregarded by us,- so that what has been said in general of our indigenous trees and plants, (that "one must travel in Europe to see the best collections of them,") is unquestionably true of our evergreens. Perhaps their very commonness has something to do with our indifference. Perhaps the national character has not yet outlived the wood-chopping era, and still looks upon forest-trees, and evergreens in particular, as relics of primitive barbarism.

To some persons, evergreens have a melancholy aspect, especially in winter. The harping of the winds through their leaves is to them a sound of wailing. Their branches ermined with snow are painful reminders of the departed summer; the trees seem to have been caught and overpowered by winter, and to struggle pitifully against surrounding horrors, wholly unable to dispel them. This feeling is, of course, very much a matter of taste, which reasoning can do little to change. But it may properly be questioned whether the prevailing desolateness of the winter season has not been transferred unconsciously to the trees which tend to give that season a look of cheerfulness. Alas for us, if that which was designed to be a beautiful compensation for an admitted evil is made a sad suggester of the evil itself! We also surmise that this prejudice has arisen, in great part, from the sight of the sickly, one-sided specimens of the Balsam-Fir and Cedar, with which our door-yards and burial-grounds have so long and so exclusively been planted. One who has seen the rich variety of evergreens now introduced into some of our best pleasuregrounds can hardly complain of their monotony. The waving plumes of the lordly Pines, the aspiring cones of the stately Firs, the dense, bronze-like masses of the symmetrical Arbor-Vitæ, the feathery and pendulous drapery of the Hemlock, the neat, tapering shafts of the silvery Juniper, each of these running off into varieties with different forms and shades of color, surely, there is no monotony here.

It will be found, we think, that those who have no liking for evergreens are generally the young and frivolous. Thoughtful men, and those of advanced years, prefer more sober tints

and steadfast verdure. Yet the foliage of evergreens is not unvarying. Who has not observed the air of freshness it has assumed on the opening of spring? In early summer, the new growth is hardly less beautiful than the foliage of other trees; the Silver-Firs having bluish leaves and ascending seed-cones; the Pines and the Spruce-Firs sending out soft yellow tufts, the one shooting upwards, the other hanging down, and enlivened with delicate pink cones; and the Hemlocks, fairest of all, "every tip of their outspread palms thimbled with gold, and every tree looking as if all the sunsets that had ever been steeped in its top were oozing out of it in drops." It hardly needs an artist's eye to discern the pleasing effect which evergreens give to a landscape at all seasons. In summer, their peculiar forms, shades of color, and style of foliage impart a depth of tone which can be obtained from no possible combination of deciduous trees; they add richness to the kaleidoscope of autumn, and fling rays of hope over the desolations of winter.

One of the strongest arguments for a liberal planting of evergreens about a country residence is the cheerful air they lend to a house during the spring and autumn. For a portion of the months of April and May, deciduous trees are destitute of foliage. The lawn is green, the early bulbs and a few other plants are in bloom, birds are singing, bees are humming; yet the trees are as naked as in winter. Introduce, now, a variety of evergreens on all sides of that lawn, and it puts on a summer aspect at once. So in the autumn, there is a period of six weeks or two months, after deciduous trees have cast their leaves, when a country place needs only a good supply of evergreens to prolong the season of verdure up to the very beginning of winter. We would not, indeed, plant our grounds wholly, nor even chiefly, with this class of trees. They should be sufficiently numerous to make the place pleasant, even when other trees are leafless; yet deciduous trees should so abound as to give the premises a new and heightened charm during the summer.

The protection and sense of comfort which evergreens afford to a country residence is no slight consideration in their favor. Here use and beauty are happily combined, the use itself