CHAPTER III. 



TREES. 



THE large number of beautiful tropical and sub- 

 tropical trees one finds growing in the country is 

 now very considerable. 



To the date palm, the essential feature of Egyptian 

 scenery, are added many trees, some evergreen, 

 while others are of a gorgeous flowering nature, 

 which although representatives of the four quarters 

 of the globe, yet they have for the most part fully 

 established themselves in the country. 



The value of trees in towns, for avenues and public 

 resorts, is obvious in many ways, for not only do 

 trees give shade, temper the heat, and render the 

 surrounding atmosphere cool and moist, but they 

 purify the air, by the carbonic acid gas they absorb, 

 and the oxygen they give out a fact that cannot 

 be too much overrated in crowded Eastern cities ; 

 and it can hardly be from anything but ignorance 

 of their value, that one so often sees large specimens 

 in towns, growing in places where it would be 

 difficult for a tree to again become established, cut 

 and hacked about in the most barbarous manner, 

 and in many cases removed altogether. 



Much might also be done in utilising some of the 

 more ornamental flowering trees for avenue purposes. 



Planting. This operation may be carried out with 

 safety from the end of January, to the middle of 



