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While many trees in our genial climate grow more rapidly than they do in 
Europe, one must not lose sight ot the fact that they attain maturity quicker, .nd 
then show signs of failure. In applying remedies to unhealthy trees, one must carefully 
distinguish between those which are suffering from the effects of accident or from a 
passing ailment, and those in which the real cause is senile decay. 
The question of the establishment of wind-breaks is a matter of importance to 
all custodians of parks which are not blessed with a sheltered situation. This is one 
of the most difficult problems those in charge of parks have to face. The problem 
is to establish the first line of defence, which in its turn, may protect the second, and 
so on. Each man must work out the problem for himself, and he, of course, considers 
the contour of the land, and the direction .ind force of the prevailing winds. Those 
interested in the matter may be inclined to study the methods by which wind-breaks 
are being established at the Centennial Park, a park with the poorest of soils. 
In planting we want to look ahead and not overcrowd, as this does not allow 
the development of good specimens, and people object to the thinning out process. 
It ia born in a man not to like to cut down a tree he has himself planted. 
Pavement Gardening. 
In Europe the cafe system is very much in vogue. There people like to take 
their refreshments in the open air, on the pavement. The pavements are very wide, 
often wider than the roadway. The greater portion of the width is taken up by the 
marble-topped or other tables of the cafe, while pedestriins walk along a comparatively 
narrow strip immediately adjoining the roadway. The municipality makes considerable 
revenue through permits to cafe-keepers to thus encroach on what in English cities 
would be called foot-paths. 
On the pavement at the edge of the line of tables, or just outside the premises 
where the pavement is narrow, plants in tubs or boxes are commonly employed, either 
t) give shelter to customers, or to ornament the surroundings. The plants used 
necessarily vary with the locality. For example, in France the Oleander, Euonymus, 
tall Privets (Liyustrum) and Date Palms are commonly employed. In Hamburg I noticed 
Ivy on trellises, and Thuya. 
The outdoor cafe system will be long in establishing itself in Sydney, partly 
because our citizens, as a rule, have not got into the way of drinking their " soft " and 
other drinks in view of passers-by, and mainly because the narrow pavements of Sydney 
have never been designed to lend themselves to the fashion. But in this climate I 
think that the desire for outdoor life will bring facilities for its realisation in time. 
London owes a good deal to the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, of 
83, Lancaster Gate, which supplied poplars and other trees and shrubs in large cubical 
boxes, painted green, to stand wherever space will admit of their being placed in 
front of the Royal Exchange, for example. 
