A SELECTION OE THE BEST TREES, ETC., FOR CITIES. 165 



ineffective for that purpose. Considering the space at our 

 disposal^ and the fact that strong-growing trees prevent_, to 

 a great extent,, smaller, more useful, and prettier subjects 

 from being grown in these gardens, the right method to 

 adopt would be never to plant anything stronger in them 

 than dwarf trees. We certainly have a considerable gain 

 in the large number of streets and suburban roads, where 

 little gardens run along in front of the houses, affording 

 greater breadth^ and a little repose between the house and 

 its inmates and the hard and dusty street. It is a pity, 

 however, that when neighbourhoods become populous, 

 crowded shops are built upon these gardens, additional 

 rooms being eventually placed over them, thus narrowing 

 instead of widening the street at the very time when more 

 space is required for increased traffic. The Marylebone-road 

 is an example of this kind. 



The street gardens of London, and our other large cities, 

 are true British institutions which I hope will never become 

 unpopular ; but go on increasing in favour. The follow- 

 ing selection of city trees has therefore been made with a 

 view to their improvement, as well as to the requirements 

 of street or boulevard planting, in which branch continental 

 cities are now before us. 



A selection of the best trees and shrubs for cities. 



The best of all trees for European cities is the Western 

 Plane (Platanus occidentalis). I have seen it in many 

 places in towns, from the heart of the city of London to 

 the shores of the lakes of Northern Italy ; in the town 

 gardens of central France, in the fine old cities in La 

 Belle Touraine, and in Anjou, where the Camellia and 

 Azalea grow luxuriantly in the open air; in Brittany, 

 where the glossy evergreen Magnolia becomes a tree 

 bearing huge waxen flowers as big as plates; in the nume- 

 rous new boulevards of Paris ; and everywhere it is by far 

 the noblest city tree ; but in no place are there finer indi- 

 vidual specimens of it than in London, although receiving 

 no such attention as they do elsewhere. 



