TREES IN SQUARES 157 



Hollies, White Beam tree, and the Weeping Ash are all 

 more or less common, and prove by their growth that 

 they are fairly well suited for the heated and impure 

 atmosphere of that part of London. The Plane and 

 Ailanthus are, however, most commonly cultivated. 



But it is in the East End, particularly the region 

 of the Docks and that part lying between Commercial 

 Road and the river, where the streets are narrow and 

 confined, dusty, smoky, and heated, that one wonders 

 most at how even a few picked trees can for long 

 survive the effects of the impure atmosphere. To 

 visit any of the squares on a hot July day, when the air 

 is still and choked with impurities, gives one some 

 idea of what the Poplars and Planes have to contend 

 with in this part of the great city. 



Wellclose Square. Here there is quite a forest of 

 Lime trees about 50 feet high, and several big crooked 

 Ash trees, one a magnificent specimen that has been 

 allowed room for branch development. The Black 

 Poplar has also attained to goodly proportions, while 

 the Canadian species seems equally at home, though 

 it is apt to die out early. Sycamore thrives well. 



Arbour Square. Amongst the most remarkable 

 trees in this East End garden are two ninety-years- old 

 specimens of the Mulberry, the larger being about 

 30 feet in height, 32 feet in spread of branches, and 

 3 feet 2 inches in girth of stem at 3 feet from the 

 ground. A large-leaved Catalpa is fully 30 feet high, 

 the branch spread 33 feet in diameter, while the 

 beautiful specimens of the Minorca Holly show that the 

 gravelly soil suits their wants. There is a nice Weeping 

 Ash and several standard, or should we say pollarded, 

 Ailanthus, the annual cutting back of which causes the 

 development of leafage to be greatly in excess of those 



