SQUARES 
2 1 9 
aucubas, euonymous, and straggling privet form the 
staple product of the encircling borders, with a pleasant 
admixture of lilac and laburnum, and generally a 
good supply of iris facing the gravel pathway. A few 
annuals and bedding-out plants brighten the borders 
in summer, and some can boast of one or two ferns. 
Occasionally the luxury of a summer-house is indulged 
in, and here and there a weeping ash has been ventured 
upon by way of shelter; a secluded walk or seat is 
practically unknown. The older gardens have some 
large trees, and the turf in all of them is good, and 
when it is with “ daisies pied ” it forms the chief delight 
of the children who play there. It may be that the 
distance of Notting Hill Gate from the smoke of 
the East End has encouraged more enterprise in 
gardening ; certainly the result of the planting in 
Ladbroke Square is satisfactory. Several healthy young 
oaks are growing up; and a fountain and small piece 
of formal gardening round it, on the highest point of 
the long, sloping lawn, is effective. In the older 
squares, such as Grosvenor Square, the bushes are high, 
and the openings so well arranged that the lawns in 
the centre are perfectly private, and hidden from the 
streets. In the less ancient ones, such as Eccleston 
and Warwick, Connaught and Montagu Squares, the 
long, narrow strip leaves little scope for variation. 
An innovation of the usual square is to be seen 
in Duke Street, Grosvenor Square. This small 
square, which was laid out as a garden with sheltered 
seats, was made when the new red-brick dwellings 
replaced the smaller and more crowded houses. The 
middle is now the distributing centre of an electric 
power-station, but the roof is low and flat, and has been 
