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for withstanding the deleterious effects of an impure town 

 atmosphere. The lime is, perhaps, one of the most cruelly 

 treated of all suburban London trees, for the lopping and 

 beheading to which it is annually subjected, and which it 

 bravely tries to resent, strikes every lover of the natural 

 with feelings of regret and shame that so noble and beautiful 

 a tree should be so tortured and disfigured. For the first 

 dozen years after being planted in its restricted space it looks 

 everything that could be desired, but when the boundary 

 limit is attained, the windows darkened, the patch of garden 

 rendered useless by the overhanging branches, and the 

 pedestrian on the footpath annoyed, then comes the retri- 

 bution, and the saw and the pruning-knife are brought into 

 request, and the stalwart, beautiful sapling elbowed in, mop- 

 headed, or contorted into some unnatural or ungraceful 

 shape. 



By planting at the first such moderate-sized and equally 

 beautiful and appropriate specimens as the Robina viscosa, 

 the mulberry, mountain ash, and beam tree, Indian bean 

 (Calalpa), or the beautiful flowering cherries and thorns, all 

 this yearly pruning and keeping in check of noble growth 

 would be avoided. The plane tree, too, is badly damaged in 

 man}/ of the London thoroughfares, and when, through 

 indiscriminate planting, pruning of the branches has to be 

 resorted to, this is usually performed in the most slovenly 

 and unscientific manner, and has, in not a few instances, led 

 to a diseased and unhealthy state of the trees operated 

 upon. 



It would certainly be well were more care in planting 

 and pruning bestowed on the London trees ; but as the 

 subject has been discussed, and the evils pointed out at 

 intervals during the past quarter of a century, we need hardly 

 hope for a much-needed reform at present. 



TREES. 



The Oriental or Common London Plane (Platanus 

 orientalis acerifolia). — This variety of the Oriental plane stands 

 first in the category of select town trees. Not only does it 

 grow vigorously in towns, but it is peculiarly well adapted 

 for withstanding the smoke and other impurities of their 

 atmosphere. Repeated experiments have clearly proved that 

 in London this tree flourishes better than any other, and a 



