TBEES ABOUT TOWN. 199 



no shelter to birds in short, the whole ensemble of 

 the plane is unfit for our country. 



It was selected for London plantations, as the 

 Thames Embankment, because its peeling bark was 

 believed to protect it against the deposit of sooty 

 particles, and because it grows quickly. For use in 

 London itself it may be preferable : for semi-country 

 seats, as the modern houses surrounded with their 

 own grounds assume to be, it is unsightly. It has no 

 association. No one has seen a plane in a hedgerow, 

 or a wood, or a copse. There are no fragments of 

 English history clinging to it as there are to the oak. 



If trees of the plane class be desirable, sycamores 

 may be planted, as they have in a measure become 

 acclimatised. If trees that grow fast are required, 

 there are limes and horse-chestnuts; the lime will 

 run a race with any tree. The Hme, too, has a pale 

 yellow blossom, to which bees resort in numbers, 

 making a pleasant hum, which seems the natural 

 accompaniment of summer sunshine. Its leaves are 

 put forth early. 



Horse-chestnuts, too, grow quickly and without any 

 attention, the bloom is familiar, and acknowledged to 

 be fine, and in autumn the large sprays of leaves take 

 orange and even scarlet tints. The plane is not to be 

 mentioned beside either of them. Other trees as well 

 as the plane would have flourished on the Thames 

 Embankment, in consequence of the current of fresh 

 air caused by the river. Imagine the Embankment 

 with double rows of oaks, elms, or beeches ; or, if 

 not, even with limes or horse-chestnuts ! To these 

 certainly birds would have resorted possibly rooks, 



