PREPARATION OF THE GROUND 15 



plant trees and shrubs in many parts of 

 London, it was found that in nearly every 

 instance substituting good soil for that found 

 naturally was a first necessity. Many failures 

 in street planting from this neglect of pro- 

 viding suitable soil could be pointed out, the 

 result being that a section of the public has 

 become tired of the subject in consequence 

 of the initial expense and subsequent failures. 

 Too often, also, the important operations of 

 preparing the ground and planting the trees 

 are left in the hands of the surveyor or 

 builder, who has little or no knowledge to 

 fit him for the work, the operation being 

 carried out by labourers who are also per- 

 fectly ignorant of what is required or the 

 conditions necessary for successful tree and 

 shrub culture. The consequence is that 

 failure is almost certain, and the trees which 

 were strong and healthy when planted gra- 

 dually become unhealthy and ultimately 

 succumb to a combination of circumstances 

 which were brought about by the ignorance 

 of the operators. 



