48 TOWN PLANTING 



the aversion to change, which so unfortun- 

 ately characterises the average British mind, 

 kept street planting greatly in the back- 

 ground in our towns and cities. For years 

 the necessity for judicious tree planting along 

 the Thames Embankment was addressed to 

 official ears in vain; indeed, it was only when 

 the call became too loud to be disregarded 

 that practical steps for carrying out this most 

 important of London's tree planting schemes 

 were set on foot. When Loudon built his 

 house in Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, he 

 planted a Sumach by the path side opposite 

 to his residence an action which was met 

 by prompt and triumphant opposition on the 

 part of the district surveyor, whose complaint 

 was that it was likely to shade the pathway 

 and keep it damp. But even his neighbours 

 declared that it would be unpleasant to pass 

 under its drip, in showery weather, and so 

 poor Loudon, who had done so much to 

 further our knowledge of trees and planting, 

 was forced to grub out his Sumach. But even 

 at a later date the opposition to street plant- 



