PLANNING THE LAND OF BRITAIN 493 



The area occupied by gardens is comparatively small, but interest in 

 gardens is growing rapidly, as instanced by the fact that, whereas ten years 

 ago the Royal Horticultural Society had some 20,000 members, the member- 

 ship is now 34,000. The growth of gardens has resulted naturally in peri- 

 pheral expansion, so that we get that condition referred to as hyphenated 

 country, part town, part country. Because they are so scattered and 

 because of their location gardens play a much larger part in regard to amenity 

 than would be expected from the actual area they occupy, less than 2 per 

 cent, of the areas where there is a large population ; but as there is too much 

 tendency towards mass production, the effect upon the amenity is rather 

 deleterious. It is necessary only to go through some of our urban areas 

 to realise that most people grow the same cheap plants, and the result is as 

 offensive to the eye as the result of present-day building ideas with houses 

 all looking as if they had been struck out of one mould. 



On the question of national parks Prof. Salisbury emphasised the fact 

 that, from the botanical point of view, small areas might be almost worse 

 than useless. If small areas are given to the nation, there is a very grave 

 risk that tours to them will be arranged, and it cannot be too strongly em- 

 phasised that mere trampling of vegetation has the effect of altering the 

 species. Opponents of national parks for the preservation of British flora 

 have argued that as, of our 1,800 species, only four have become extinct 

 during recent times, there is no need to make special provision for preserva- 

 tion ; but while it is true that there has been little extinction as a whole, it is 

 also true that there has been serious diminution of species in certain areas. 

 It has been found that 300 species have become extinct in one county or 

 another, and some species almost extinct over large areas. It has been 

 said, too, that the opportunity of introduction more than counterbalances 

 diminution, but it should be emphasised that these introductions are for the 

 most part weeds of cultivation, and what we want are native plants which 

 will stand up to the competition of native species. 



It is essential that the control of nature reserves should be in the hands 

 of experts, and two examples show the type of problem they would have to 

 consider, (i) During recent years quite 100 new species of beetles have been 

 added to the British list as a result of the study of decaying tree trunks in 

 the New Forest, and, further, these same tree trunks are the source of food 

 for a number of birds and the homes of some common and some very rare 

 fungi. Should decaying logs and tree trunks be destroyed ? (2) It is 

 useless to preserve an area by merely leaving it alone. For example, the 

 scrub areas of Britain, considered by some to be the most beautiful parts 

 of the country, represent a transitory phase between grass and forest. 

 The greater part of this country if left alone would pass to forest. That 

 scrub area is the richest in insects and flora of any type of vegetation we 

 have in this country, and we can preserve these features only by removing 

 areas that are coming into their prime, thinning out the scrub and main- 

 taining the changing character. Those in charge of the Wicken Fen reser\'e 

 know they can maintain that rich fauna only so long as the sedge is properly 

 cut. That involves proper control and considerable expense. So that 

 control and expense are necessary for the maintenance of those reserves. 



Roadside planning, like gardens, has an effect on amenities out of all pro- 

 portion to the area concerned. It is essential that the trees planted and the 

 way they are planted should be such as not to create an effect of monotony, 

 which has been said to have a deleterious effect upon the drivers of motor 

 cars. It is also highly desirable that trees planted on the roadside in rural 

 areas should be characteristic of the area in question, enabling us to preserve 

 many of our native trees in their excessive beauty. 



