THE BEST TREES TO PLANT 73 



a suitable shrub for smoky localities, though 

 occasionally one sees it in a fairly healthy 

 condition, but only when growing under ex- 

 ceptionally favourable conditions, as in the 

 most open and airy of our town squares and 

 gardens. ~Take, as examples, the Holly 

 hedge around the gardens in Cavendish 

 Square, where the atmospheric conditions are 

 by no means bad when compared with other 

 parts of London, and it must be admitted that 

 the trees wear a wretched, blackened, rusty 

 appearance, though they are able to survive 

 and eke out an existence under their un- 

 favourable conditions. Even in our larger 

 parks, where the grounds are open and airy, 

 the Holly is by no means at home, and, 

 though able to survive, cannot compare in 

 point of beauty with those grown in the 

 country. 



Of course, as we recede from the smoke 

 and other impurities of the confined town 

 atmosphere, the Holly gradually improves 

 until say in Greenwich or other parks on the 

 outskirts of the metropolis it may be con- 



