GARDEN TO ORDER

This book is for scientifically oriented gardeners -- not for those who want a step by step how to do it garden book. It is certainly a book that stimulates an urge to study this text as a preliminary book on garden genetics (and go on to further study), for the author with the help of the Burpee people- has organized and presented the facts in a human, personal sort of way with something of the flavor of a garden detective story. Furthermore, this is not only a book on garden genetics. It is a biography of a famous seed house- W. Atlee Burpee -- and of the men at the top who made it what it is. It is the adventure of pursuit in producing something new in flowers and vegetables. It is a potpourri of sage advice, of answers to questions that puzzle gardeners, of bits of random knowledge, even of how to use the vegetables you grow to add zest to your table. me of the material seems not quite integrated with the main body of text- as if written for periodical use and not revised. But virtually all of it is rewarding and stimulating and unusual reading, demanding a dedicated attention.