Jammy 9, 1904. 
The Gardening World 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“On the city’s paved street plant gardens lined with Lilacs sweet.”— Emerson. 
Weekly Prize 
FOR 
Short Articles. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World 
will give a cash prize of Ten Shillings for 
the best paragraph, or short article, sent 
by readers during the week. The Editor’s 
judgment must be considered final, and he will 
be at liberty to use any of the contributions 
sent in. The paragraph, or article, must not 
exceed one column in length, but the value, 
rather than the length, of the article will be 
considered in making the award. Competitors 
may send in items of news or comments on 
news; hints of practical interest to gar¬ 
deners or growers of plants, fruits, or flowers ;■ 
successful methods of propagating plants 
usually considered difficult; or contributions 
ON ANY SUBJECT COMING WITHIN THE SPHERE 
OF gardening proper. Letters should be 
addressed to The Editor, marked “ Competi¬ 
tion,” and posted not later than Friday night 
to ensure insertion in the issue of next week. 
The following Coloured 
Plates have appeared in 
recent numbers:— 
< 
May 23.— SAXIFRAGA GRISEBACHII, ) 
May 30. — DENDROBIUM NOBILE 
ROTUNDIFLORUM and D.n. NOBILIUS. 
July 4 — APHELANDRA AURANTIACA 
ROEZLII. 
August 1— BORONIA HETEROPHYLLA. 
September 12.— SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
October 3 — LILIUM AURATUM PLA- 
TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
Novembei 14.— ROSE MME. N. LEVA 
VASSEUR. 
January 2— HYBRID TEA-SCENTED 
ROSE IRENE. 
Back numbers may be obtained from the 
publishers, price 2£d. post free. 
This week 
we present 
Plate of 
a Half-tone 
NEW CONSERVATORY AT 
NUN APPLETON, YORKS. 
Next week we shall give a Half-tone 
Plate of the 
COCOLOBA GRANDIFOLIA. 
*** The prize last week in the Readers' 
) Competition was awarded to “ J, C.” for 
) his article on “ Labels,” page 7. 
Views and Reviews. 
Street Trees. 
At the present day, when the populations 
of various countries are crowding into the 
cities, the question of bringing the country 
more into the city becomes one of more press¬ 
ing necessity every year. On this occasion 
we refer more particularly to the trees 
planted to beautify the streets, or to give 
shade according to> the warmth of the country 
in which such trees may be situated. From 
very early times it would seem that most of 
the trees had been crowded out cf London 
streets for want of proper accommodation, 
and those who wish to enjoy trees would have 
to go into the .suburbs. Within the la-sc 
fifty years or so the suburbs themselves have 
rapidly become part and parcel of the city of 
London, and now’the process has commenced 
of thinning out the houses in the centre and 
planting trees to beautify the streets, as we 
indicated in our last issue by reference to 
the experiments about to be carried out by 
the London County Council. 
A very hazy notion seems to prevail 
amongst the citizens as to why trees are diffi¬ 
cult to grow in London. A writer in one of 
our daily contemporaries is doubtful whether 
the Tree of Heaven would survive its first 
winter in London after being planted in the 
Kingsway. He states it requires to be shel¬ 
tered from cold winds, but if lie keeps his eye 
on those trees he will find them amongst the 
very last to come into leaf, and then summer 
is practically here whether that is genial or 
otherwise. In speaking of the False Acacia 
the same writer is of the belief that the 
Thames Embankment is the best place for 
such trees in central London, because, being 
near the Thames Embankment, lie supposes 
the moisture from the river keeps the foliage 
healthy. It would not be difficult, we 
imagine, to find a Robiniamueh further from 
the Thames Embankment and thriving even 
bet ter than there. 
One of the greatest difficulties limiting the 
cultivation of trees in London or any other 
large place is the filthy condition of the . f - 
mosphere in the matter of smoke and dust, 
and particularly smoke-laden fogs, that de¬ 
posit an oily and grimy material upon L he 
leaves of any tree that may happen to be in 
leaf at the time. A much truer account of 
this fact is given in " Bulletin 205 ” of the 
Cornell University Experiment Station, 
Ithaca, New York, prepared by W. A. Murrill, 
who speaks of the congested condition of the 
streets as well as the dust and soot in the 
atmosphere. 
Speaking of the number of trees that 
might grow in the British capital, they would 
be vexy numerous, provided the foliage was 
cf a nature to retain as little of the filth 
of our atmosphere as possible, and to be suffi¬ 
ciently leathery to avoid being injured by 
wind, if planted in very exposed positions, 
but equally as well by the impurities of the 
atmosphere, which are likely to destroy 
leaves of thin texture'. The London Plane 
casts its baby clothing soon after the ex¬ 
pansion of the leaf, so that the latter is ulti¬ 
mately quite smooth and leathery in texture. 
We have no doubt that the False Aca'cda will 
succeed well enough if less rigorously pruned 
than that to which our London tree® are moist 
frequently subjected, and provided the situa¬ 
tion is not too close to factory chimneys 
belching out smoke, together with other im¬ 
purities from, coal fires. The Tree of 
Heaven, already mentioned, has also smooth 
leaves, which fall in the autumn, so that the 
whole tree is cleaned naturally once a year 
by the casting of its leaves. 
There is another point to which we should 
call attention in connection with the planting 
of street trees—namely, the severe pruning 
or lopping to which they are annually sub¬ 
jected. Even some of our widest streets are 
too narrow to permit of the natural growth 
of trees without encroaching upon dwelling- 
houses and their gardens on the one hand, 
and the traffic in the roadway on the other 
hand. Even in that great western artery of 
London, particularly from Hammersmith to 
Kew Bridge, the Plane trees and Robinias 
are subjected to'.severe annual pruning. The 
Plane trees in Chiswick High Read have 
succeeded splendidly a.s far as growth is con¬ 
cerned, but they are annually reduced to the 
form of the typical cockney tree, or to the 
shape of the conventional tree to lie 1 found in 
the toy Noah’s ark. The habit of the tree 
is too spreading laterally and horizontally, so 
that, in order to keep it within the narrow 
limits assigned to it, it. has to be pruned in 
this way. They have always been primed 
in pyramidal form, and that is better than 
the round-headed form to be seen in some of 
the neighbouring side streets, where the 
branches are altogether too crowded to he 
natural, owing to the pruning, which reduces 
each branch to the form of a Willow stool. 
Where the streets are too narrow it would 
