CHAPTER X. 



TOWN PLANTING. 



To those whose lot is cast in or near our more important 

 centres of industry this subject is of vast importance, and 

 one which, at the present time, occupies a large share of 

 public attention. 



The atmosphere of our larger towns and cities London, 

 Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield is, it must 

 be candidly admitted, impregnated to a far greater extent 

 with noxious fumes and vapours than is that of any of the 

 Continental towns Paris, Brussels, or Berlin where street 

 tree planting would seem to be a matter of paramount im- 

 portance, and, therefore, the difficulty of establishing many 

 trees and shrubs is correspondingly increased. 



Observations and experiments carried on during the last 

 ten years in three of the largest towns in Britain London, 

 Glasgow, and Liverpool a trial garden was for this express 

 purpose instituted in one of the most smoky districts 01 

 East London have clearly proved, however, that there are 

 not a few trees and shrubs well suited for withstanding even 

 the deleterious effects of the impurest of town atmospheres. 

 Not for one moment do I wish it to be inferred that there 

 are not certain districts to wit, the environs of Lambeth 

 potteries, and some of our huge chemical and other works-^- 

 where, do what we will, vegetation, be it of whatever kind, 

 will not succeed ; but, as we recede from these centres of 

 sickness and death, particular trees and shrubs nourish 

 amazingly, and no better example can be pointed out than 

 the healthy and rapid-growing specimens that adorn the 



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