AND TREES FOR THE SMALL PLACE: Hardy Deciduous Material for the Home Grounds

Mr. Van Mells is a nurseryman from Poughkeepsie and for many years has written articles for the various horticultural magazines and given courses to student gardeners at the New York Botanical Garden. The book quite obviously is written by a man who knows, understands and has worked with plants. It is a careful appraisal of the woody plants suitable for small properties and should be of tremendous value, not only for the at gardening but also to nursery men and landscape architects. The chart is a distinctive and valuable feature of the book. Here, Mr. Van Meele has judged the comparative merits of the woody plants and graded them accordingly. Some of the professional group may disagree with the low score given some of the garden favorites or old standbyes (Illacs, for instance). This grading limits the book to some extent to people living in temperate zones (V and VI). Outside those zones, (California for instance -- and the far South) adjustments have to be made. The use of the book by home owners is dependent on a certain background of knowledge of classifications of shrubs and trees, since that is his method of arrangement. But the facts are there. An excellent book, though one wonders how much landscaping is going to be possible until after the war.