GUM TREES.
[To THE EDITOR OW THE "SPRCTATOZ:] SIR,—I regret to see the Spectator giving its support to the notion that the gum trees of Australia are of any real value in our country. It is not even proved that they are any good in our hemisphere. Long ago they were tried in Algeria, a very likely climate for them one would think, and I made a journey there to see them, and saw some collections there which had been made with great care, and embraced all the known species of the time. In no case was the result a good one. The plants looked rusty and poor. The fact that two or three kinds grow in mild and sea-shore districts in our country is no proof of their value as trees. For beauty or for timber the best trees are those of our own country, Europe, North- Eastern America, and the noble trees of the North Pacifio region. I remember the late Mr. A. Macmillan planted some of the Australian gum trees in his garden at Tooting, with the result that death promptly settled the question there.—I am,
Sir, &c., W. ROBINSON. Gravetye Manor, East Grinstead.
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