388 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



XXVIII. The Arboricultural Adornment of Towns. 

 By R C. Munro Ferguson, M.P. 



Opinions differ as to the progress of Arboriculture in our land- 

 ward districts, but all agree that in the burghs it is an infant art. 

 A book was once written comparing the parks and pleasure-gardens 

 of Paris with those of London ; another might compare those of 

 Edinburgh and Carlisle, Dundee and Glasgow, with those of Weis- 

 baden and Munich, Copenhagen and Nancy. "Weisbaden is a 

 good example of how even an industrial town may have attractive 

 surroundings. Edinburgh is justly famous for its beautiful site, 

 which is incomparably finer than that of any of these, but its 

 climate is not in such high repute. Has not Miss Ferrier truly 

 observed that " an east wind on the east coast of Scotland is a 

 thing which may have been felt, but which has never been 

 described " 1 Yet, even in Scotland, it is evident from what can be 

 seen in the Royal Botanical Garden — a site by no means favour- 

 able to the growth either of trees or shrubs — that many of the 

 varieties that flourish there form a striking contrast to the stunted, 

 grimy, withered Scots elms which are the standard adornment of 

 our streets and public places. In London, where dirt and smoke 

 certainly exceed anything of the kind in Edinburgh, we find the 

 poplar and some Acers flourishing as luxuriantly as in the country, 

 and the English elm, lime, chestnut, and thorn do fairly well. 

 Even in London we cannot have Acacia or Paulownia avenues as 

 in Paris, yet it is certain that several varieties of trees will do 

 better in our towns than the elm and such like scarecrows with 

 which we are too familiar. 



That some shade is needed in our streets and public places is 

 shown by the fact that though the heat of Edinburgh is less 

 appreciable than that of London, the glare of Princes Street or of 

 Leith Walk is as depressing as that of any other of the world's 

 thoroughfares. Nor would our architecture, infinite in variety as 

 it is, suffer from the relief which the foliage and outlines of trees 

 would afford to the exuberance of our masonry. Much of the 

 beautiful work already accomplished in the parks and botanical 

 gardens around London and Dublin could be successfully repro- 

 duced in Scotland. It is true that the State is more generous in 

 financing the pleasure-gardens of the other capitals, but were the 

 Scottish people sufficiently appreciative and demonstrative, we need 

 not despair of local effort being better supported. 



