OPPOSITION TO TREE PLANTING 3 



couple of wretched Plane trees in the cramped fore- 

 court of a house near the Clock Tower was taken a few 

 years ago. These trees, which were much appreciated 

 by a neighbour, were about to be lopped when, in 

 order to preserve them, he actually bought the lease 

 of the house so that the preservation of the trees could 

 be enforced. The removal of a young Plane tree 

 at a cost of 20 from a garden in Portland Place to 

 a site at Hampstead in order to keep faith with the 

 dying wish of the planter is an almost parallel case. 



That in a few instances, however, opposition to 

 tree-planting in London has been offered will be in the 

 minds of all, as for years the necessity for such 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. Even Loudon, 

 who had done so much to further our knowledge of 

 trees and planting, met with stern opposition on the 

 part of the District Surveyor when he planted a Sumach 

 by the pathside of his newly built house at Porchester 

 Terrace, Bayswater. Even his neighbours declared 

 that it would be unpleasant to pass under its drip in 

 showery weather, and so poor Loudon was forced 

 to grub out his Sumach. 



But times have changed, and the value of judiciously 

 arranged trees and shrubs in our streets and squares 

 is now fully recognised and can hardly be over- 

 estimated. It is a well-known fact, however, that in 

 certain confined districts of the Metropolis, tree and 

 shrub culture, at least in a satisfactory way, is almost 

 out of the question, as the fumes given off by many 

 of our city manufactories act most perniciously on 



