CHAPTER XVI 

 TREE AND SHRUB GROWTH IN LONDON 



WHEN the confined situation and impurities 

 of the atmosphere are taken into account, it 

 is surprising to what a state of perfection 

 certain trees and shrubs attain in London. 

 In proof of this we may point to the noble 

 Plane trees that are to be found in many 

 of our public squares and gardens, as also 

 giant specimens of the Acacia, Elm, Poplar, 

 Ailanthus, Mulberry, and Sumach, not to 

 speak of numerous shrubs. But it is not 

 only in the more open and healthy parts, 

 but even in some of the smaller and more 

 confined courts and areas in the very heart of 

 the metropolis (where the height of the sur- 

 rounding buildings almost shuts out the sun- 

 light and prevents a free circulation of air, 



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