no TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



chapter on fencing and draining, and another on measurement 

 of timber, and the book ends with a brief notice of working-plans 

 and the uses of British timber. 



The book is illustrated with some old and some new and inter- 

 esting photographs and is supplied with an index. 



E. P. Stebbing. 



To2i<n Planting, and the Trees, Shrubs, Herbaceous and other 

 Plants that are best adapted for resisting Smoke. 216 pp., 

 with Index and 16 full-page Plates. By A. D. Webster. 

 London : George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. Price 3s. 6d. 



We opened this book with pleasurable anticipations, but its 

 perusual ended with a sense of disappointment. The author, 

 who is no novice at bookmaking, somewhat misleads us with 

 his title Town Planting. The heading of chapter xvi., " Tree 

 and Shrub growth in London," would have been more 

 appropriate, as the gist of his story relates to trees in London 

 in general and Regent's Park in particular. Here and there 

 throughout the text allusions are made to the success of certain 

 trees in various towns throughout the United Kingdom, but in 

 no sense can the work be regarded as a reliable guide for any 

 town much removed from the latitude of London. 



Take for example the author's special tree, the London 

 plane {Platanns orientalis aceri/olia), the success of which in 

 London is one of the remarkable features of tree-life in the 

 great metropolis, and causes feelings of envy and regret to 

 those who have to struggle with tree-life in towns less favourably 

 situated. How rarely are good specimens of any age of that 

 tree found in towns north of the Humber. \o doubt it is now 

 more frequently planted, and healthy young trees may be seen 

 in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and even Glasgow, but in 

 the north the annual growth may be measured in inches, 

 compared with feet in the London district. 



In our verdant days we thought if one tree of a kind throve 

 in a locality, why should not a thousand ? Experience comes 

 with age and observation. We have now arrived at the 

 conclusion that the London plane is undoubtedly one of the 

 most difficult trees to establish in heavy cold clay soils, and 

 after the trees get above 10 feet in height the difficulty 



