August  9,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
125 
tree  remains  it  will  have  to  give  place  to  a  thoroughly  good  one.  This 
excellent  work  was  commenced  a  few  winters  ago,  and  is  an  operation 
of  such  magnitude  that  it  will  be  a  matter  of  several  years  before 
it  reaches  completion.  When  this  happens,  and  especially  if  the 
remaining  trees  are  provided  with  some  new  and  thoroughly  good  soil, 
we  shall  see  the  Plane  trees  of  the  Thames  Embankment  again  making 
an  advance,  and  growing  until  the  time  may  arrive  when  the  whole 
work  of  thinning  and  substituting  will  have  to  be  repeated  in  order 
to  procure  the  necessary  symmetry  and  convenience  of  disposition. 
During  the  past  few  weeks,  and  even  at  the  moment  of  writing, 
skilled  observers  have  looked  askance  at  the  operations  of  a  small  army 
of  navvies  who,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  telephone  wires,  have  been 
taking  out  deep  trenches  right  up  to  the  bole  of  many  of  these  splendid 
trees.  They  have  cut  down  to  a  depth  of  6  or  more  feet,  chopping 
In  reference  to  the  Embankment  Planes,  it  will  doubtless  prove 
interesting  to  quote  from  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  for  January  14th, 
1869.  On  page  27  of  that  issue  the  Editor  says  : — “  On  the  evening  of 
the  last  day  of  the  past  year,  the  first  of  the  line  of  trees  was  planted 
that  is  to  ornament  the  Thames  Embankment  between  Westminster 
Bridge  and  the  Temple.  This  line  consists  entirely  of  Planes  (Platanus 
acerifolia),  and  the  trees,  being  of  good  size,  already  produce  a  marked 
effect.  They  are  from  12  to  15  feet  high,  with  stout  clean  stems,  and 
heads  which,  when  the  leaves  are  on,  will  even  during  the  first  summer 
furnish  a  line  of  ‘  greenery  ’  pleasing  to  the  eye  of  Londoners.  The 
work  has  been  entrusted  to  Mr.  Alex.  McKenzie,  the  skilful  designer 
and  superintendent  of  the  Alexandra  Park,  and  the  common  sense 
which  prompted  him  to  choose  the  Plane,  in  the  face  of  many  sugges¬ 
tions  he  received  from  those  who  fancied  they  knew  something  about 
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Fig.  35.— LONDON’S  BOULEVAED  OP  PLANES. 
large  roots  and  small,  irrespective  of  whether  the  process  would  prove 
detrimental  to  the  trees  or  not,  and  have  afterwards  formed  a  bed  of 
concrete  upon  which  to  place  the  pipes.  Adjacent  to  the  Temple 
Station,  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  we  saw  many  roots  ruthlessly  severed, 
and  it  will  be  a  matter  for  surprise  if  the  trees  do  not  suffer  thereby, 
as  the  trenches  were  open  during  several  days  whilst  London  was 
sweltering  beneath  a  scorching  sun.  Such  acts  should  be  reprehended; 
since  it  is  nothing  short  of  unjustifiable  vandalism  that  these  noble 
trees  should  be  mutilated.  Surely  the  London  County  Council  could 
take  steps  to  prevent  what  is  little  less  than  rank  butchery  ?  At  the 
present  time  the  workmen  have  crossed  the  Embankment  opposite 
Brunei’s  statue,  and  are  operating  quite  closely  to  the  trees  on  the 
river  side  of  the  road,  and  will  doubtless  there  perpetrate  similar 
barbarities^to  those  already  cited  between  the  railings  of  the  Temple 
•Gardens  and  the  roadway. 
the  subject,  will  meet  with  general  approval.  There  is  no  tree  for 
large  towns  at  all  to  equal  the  Plane.  Those  who  are  accustomed  to 
traverse  London  have  evidence  of  this  every  day ;  and  if  an  example 
were  needed  of  the  rapidity  of  its  growth  in  one  of  the  most  crowded  of 
localities,  and  the  most  circumscribed  of  spaces,  we  could  not  furnish 
a  better  instance  than  that  magnificent  specimen  now  growing  in 
Stationers’  Hall  Court,  a  region  known  only  to  the  pure  cockney  and 
the  ‘  Eow  boys.’  That  tree  was  planted  by  the  present  Mr.  Greenhill, 
of  the  Stationers’  Company,  when  he  was  a  lad,  and  is  little  more  than 
forty  years  old.  Everybody  should  see  that  tree. 
Probably  every  reader  of  our  Journal  has  traversed  the  Thames 
Embankment,  and  admired  its  stately  Planes  ;  but  they  will  neverthe¬ 
less  be  interested  in  the  illustration  (fig.  35),  which  gives  a  bird’s-eye 
view  of  the  river  and  the  trees  as  seen  by  the  camera  from  Hungerford 
Bridge. 
