15 



Not for one moment do I wish it to be inferred that 

 there are not certain districts — to wit, the environs of the 

 Lambeth potteries, and some of our large chemical works — 

 where, do what we will, vegetation, be it of whatever kind, 

 will not succeed ; but as we recede from these centres of 

 sickness and death, particular trees and shrubs flourish 

 amazingly, and no better example can be pointed out than 

 the healthy and rapid-growing specimens that adorn the 

 Thames Embankment, and which are removed but a very 

 short distance indeed from one of the barrenest and most 

 miserable of the city suburbs, the pottery district. 



That certain trees and shrubs succeed best in particular 

 towns is another strange fact, for, curious as it may seem, 

 the smoke-proof London plane is by no means the best tree 

 for either Liverpool or Warrington, particularly the former 

 town, where the sycamore has been found to be far better 

 adapted. In the very centre of Sheffield the Canadian poplar 

 has been found to be by far the most useful tree, while in 

 some of the worst localities in the colliery districts, the 

 chesnut and variegated-leaved sycamore are the greatest 

 favourites. Even the rhododendron does well in the most 

 smoky parts of the town of Bury, Lancashire. No better 

 example could be adduced of how certain trees favour certain 

 towns, than two or three kinds of poplars which grow with 

 unabated vigour at Gatley, a small town near Manchester ; 

 while at Bury, about equally distant on the other side of the 

 city, they positively refuse to grow, and that, too, after man}' 

 unsuccessful attempts to get them established. 



Neither the rhododendron nor the laurel are at all 

 suitable for the smoky districts of London, but casual 

 observers may form a different opinion, from the appearance 

 of such of these shrubs as are replanted annually, the semi- 

 sickly subjects being replaced at stated times by those that 

 are fresh and vigorous. In the smoky and impure 

 (chemically) atmosphere of Glasgow, the thorn and beam 

 trees [Pyrus), as also several kinds of Retinospora, thrive 

 amazingly, much better than they do in any of the large 

 English towns. 



Why certain trees and shrubs succeed best in particular 

 districts or towns is, perhaps, readily enough explained by 

 the conditions of soil and situation, as well as the particular 

 nd ustry of the inhabitants. Coal smoke from the multitu- 



