162 



TREES FOR CITY PARKS, AVENUES, 



the leaves that have done their work,, and with them the 

 filth of the year ; and, so to speak, retiring within themselves 

 they remain till the winter is past, safer from deadly vapours 

 than the Esquimaux in his snow-hut is from cold. The 

 consequence is, they grow nearly as well in London as in 

 the country. When the fires begin to go out in spring, 

 and the air of towns becomes more free from evil humours, 

 they burst out into leaf and beauty^ — clouds of light, fresh, 

 budding green. What sight on earth can surpass the 

 bursting into leaf of deciduous trees in temperate and 

 northern climes ? We should see few things more beautiful, 

 nothing more magical, even if it were possible to pass high 

 over earth, like the swallow in its migration from the wolfish 

 north, with its pines and weird heaths, to the south with its 

 Vines and Oranges, and to the tropics with its Palms and 

 giant Bamboos. No charm of tropical or other climes sur- 

 passes the freshness and joy of an English spring. Why 

 then should we not take advantage of the fact, and make 

 our city springs more English still, by developing chiefly 

 those plants which flourish as well in towns as out of 

 them, instead of everlastingly purchasing evergreens which 

 are doomed to perish sooner or later? I have repeatedly 

 noticed that Peaches, Almonds, the double Cherries, and 

 the numerous exquisite trees and shrubs allied to them, 

 flourish and attain the same perfect shape in towns and 

 cities that they do in the country, while beside them valu- 

 able evergreens are but the ghosts of what evergreens 

 should be. 



Supposing for a moment that evergreen trees and shrubs 

 throve as well within city influences as deciduous ones do, 

 it would even then be a questionable practice to use them 

 extensively, because they do not gladden us with that floral 

 beauty which deciduous trees are wont to put on ; their 

 verdure in the parks and open spaces goes for little in 

 winter, as at that time people seldom frequent these places. 

 They do not keep time with our suns and seasons ; and they 

 are not so beautiful, because not so changeful, as the de- 

 ciduous kinds. They do not flower or fruit conspicuously, 

 as many deciduous plants do, and they tend to preserve a 



