SUNSHINE AND SHADE. 265 



to the full fury of the sun. Since that time a great 

 number of trees have been planted, and many of those 

 then planted have begun to give shade. 



Frequenters of the boulevards are now perfectly 

 protected from the sun ; but those who prefer excur- 

 sions in the country are less fortunate. 



At Genoa two things are wanting, as the saying 

 runs : trees on the land and fishes in the sea. (There 

 is also a third desideratum, for which, lest I be guilty 

 of a " diffamation," I must refer my readers to their 

 Baedecker.) Nice is not quite so badly off as this, 

 yet the country roads are treeless to a great extent. 



I am convinced that the Plane (Platanus occiden- 

 talis), the only tree now planted, is not suited to a 

 health resort. The hairs from the hanging globular 

 clusters of fruit are a serious drawback. At certain 

 seasons of the year the roads are lined with these, 

 and whenever there is wind they are carried into 

 the eyes and nose and throat. There is no avoiding 

 these spicules, and they are peculiarly irritating. 

 The Plane is not only a source of great discomfort, 

 but of actual danger to all who suffer from the 

 throat and lungs, The bark is said to be poisonous. 

 The tree is utterly unworthy of the exquisite lines 

 addressed to it by the poet Clough. 



The French are very fond of these trees : there 

 are said to be 26,000 of them in Paris. 



It is easier to condemn the " Bachelor Plane " 

 than to say what tree should take its place.* To 



* Good trees for the public streets are Acacia Julibrissin, Robinia, 

 Paulomiia imperialis, Sterculia platanifolia, Vlmits Americanits, Gingko 

 biloba, the Horse Chestnut, Brachychiton populneum, Ailantus, and the 

 Black Walnut, which I have planted at Alassio and Ventimiglia. T. H. 



