NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 341 



all tliin-leaved plants, very soon lose their foliage and die. The 

 evergreen shrubs which stand best in towns are such as have 

 thick smooth leaves, Hollies, Aucubas, and hybrid Ehododen- 

 drons, for example, which should be planted in a compost of, say, 

 two parts peat, one part horse or cow manure, and one part 

 turfy loam. 



Sulphureous smoke and large quantities of soot are also very 

 injurious to grass and cereal and green crops. In the central part 

 of Glasgow, grass thrives very well during the summer and 

 autumn months, but in winter and spring, owing to the large 

 amount of soot and moisture then falling, it damps away and 

 disappears to a greater or less extent. In such a case it is better 

 to turn over the ground and re-sow it every year during the 

 months of April or May. 



In mining districts, where the calcining of ironstone goes on, the 

 crops suffer very much from the sulphureous fumes which are 

 emitted in the process. In several instances heavy damages have 

 been paid to the farmers, and sometimes the ground itself has had 

 to be taken over by the owners of the pits. The bad effects of 

 the sulphureous smoke may to a certain extent be alleviated when 

 the calcining takes place only in the winter time, as then 

 vegetation being practically at rest, does not suffer to the same 

 extent. In Lancashire, around Euncorn and Widnes, where 

 there are very extensive chemical works, the effects of gaseous 

 fumes may be seen for miles around upon all sorts of vegetation. 

 In our own neighbourhood, near St. Rollox, though not to the 

 same extent, many skeletons of trees and shrubs are to be seen 

 standing naked and bare, though once clothed in all the beauty 

 and luxuriance of summer pride. A few years ago, when 

 Blochairn iron-works were in full blast, the calcining of the 

 debris heaps was going on night and day. The sulphureous 

 fumes from these heaps, along with dense quantities of smoke 

 from the chimneys, scorched all vegetation in the neighbourhood 

 within a radius of half a mile. Since these works stopped their 

 operations three years ago, the young trees and shrubs planted at 

 the Alexandra Park have made amazing progress, almost equal to 

 those at the Queen's Park, thereby affording a striking proof of 

 the effects of gaseous smoke. 



The planting of trees and shrubs in the centre of, and around 

 large manufacturing towns, should be done in the most careful 



