TREES ABOUT TOWN. 197 



and hedgerows have been carefully excluded. The 

 law is, *' Plant planes, laurels, and rhododendrons ; 

 root up everything natural to this country." 



To those who have any affection for our own wood- 

 lands this is a pitiful spectacle, produced, too, by the 

 expenditure of large sums of money. Will no one 

 break through the practice, and try the effect of 

 English trees ? There is no lack of them, and they 

 far excel anything yet imported in beauty and 

 grandeur. 



Though such suburban grounds mimic the isolation 

 and retirement of ancient country houses surrounded 

 with parks, the distinctive feature of the ancient 

 houses is omitted. There are no massed bodies, as 

 it were, of our own trees to give a substance to the 

 view. Are young oaks ever seen in those grounds so 

 often described as park-like ? Some time since it was 

 customary for the builder to carefully cut down every 

 piece of timber on the property before putting in the 

 foundations. 



Fortunately, the influence of a better taste now 

 preserves such trees as chance to be growing on the 

 site at the moment it is purchased. These remain, 

 but no others are planted. A young oak is not to be 

 seen. The oaks that are there drop their acorns in 

 vain, for if one takes root it is at once cut off ; it 

 would spoil the laurels. It is the same with elms ; 

 the old elms are decaying, and no successors are 

 provided. 



As for ash, it is doubtful if a young ash is anywhere 

 to be found ; if so, it is an accident. The ash is even 

 rarer than the rest. In their places are put more 



