[ I 7 2 ] 



limes, horfe-chefnuts, and birches 3 , which have fhared the fame 

 /ate, were not indeed of the fame antiquity, but were in a very 

 flourishing ftate. I mould therefore hope that what hath been 

 experienced in St. James's Park will prove a warning to thofe who 

 may intend to dry ponds near which trees grow that they would 

 be forry to lofe ; for though the filling up Rofamond's Pond is in 

 mod refpecls a very ftriking improvement, as well as the other 

 alterations which are now carrying on, yet I mould fuppofe that 

 a landfchape painter would wifh the pond reftored, with all its 

 inconveniences, provided thofe very capital trees could be re- 

 placed, which were fo great an ornament from every point of 

 view in the two parks. As thefe public walks are not only fo or- 

 namental, but contribute fo much to the health of the inhabi- 

 tants of the metropolis, I mall take the liberty of objecling to 

 the new trees which have lately been planted there, and which 

 are almoft entirely elms. It is admitted that thefe young trees 

 ,are in a very promifmg condition ; but they want that moft efiTen- 

 tial requifite in plantations of 



— feris factura nepotibus umbram ; 



for the roots of elms fpread fo very near to the furface, that they 

 are very apt to be blown down by high winds, when they are 

 become of a confiderable fize ; nor have I obferved any other tree 

 which fufFers fo frequently in this refpect, if the birch be ex- 

 cepted. 



I could wifh therefore that as fait as the limes decay, frefh trees 

 of the fame fort were introduced, as they grow to an immenfe 

 fize and age, there being fome in Sir Laurence Dundafs's park, in 

 Hertfordshire, which mult have been planted for many centuries, 



a I allude to the trees of thefe forts which grew within the 

 Decoy. 



2, and 



