4 LONDON TREES 



vegetation of every description. Such is the case in 

 some parts of the East End, particularly by the Tower 

 and Mint, in the Lambeth pottery district, and in 

 narrow, confined, and dusty streets generally. In 

 the graveyard at St. Giles-in-the-Fields, where some 

 good smoke-resisting trees have been planted, on 

 remarking to the gardener in charge how wretched 

 they looked, we promptly received the following 

 reply : ( Well ! with Crosse & Blackwell's at one end 

 and Nixey's Black Lead Works at the other, it's a 

 wonder there's a living plant left' a remark that truth- 

 fully applies to many other places in the London area. 

 The management of London trees is not on the 

 whole very satisfactory, especially in the matter of 

 thinning and pruning, the latter operation in parti- 

 cular leaving much to be desired. Owners and those 

 in charge of trees in many parts of the Metropolis 

 have a decided aversion to cutting away such as are 

 interfering with the development of better specimens, 

 the result being that, pressing too closely on one 

 another and thus excluding a sufficiency of light and 

 air, the trees become lop-sided, branchless for the 

 greater part of their height, and unhealthy, while their 

 natural beauty and individual characteristics are 

 entirely lost sight of. In connection with this it is 

 well to bear in mind that it is the extent and quantity 

 of foliage that render town trees of the greatest value, 

 whether for ornament or from an hygienic point of 

 view. Close order of growth is all right when the 

 production of clean timber is aimed at, but when, as 

 is the case in London, a well-furnished tree of natural 

 appearance is desired, then by all means allow plenty 

 of room for root and branch development. In many 

 of our public squares and gardens the trees are too 



