§ MR. McLARENI beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works if his attention has been called to the number of crippled, stunted, and half-dead coniferous trees in Kew Gardens which are no longer properly representative of the species to which they belong; and whether he will suggest to the managers of the gardens the desirability of removing all such trees and replacing them by young stock, providing them so far as possible with the soil most suitable for their special requirements.
I beg also to ask the First Commissioner of Works if his attention has been called to the complaints of the pollution of the air near Kew by the smoke-producing factories at Brentford, and to the complaints that the Urban Council of Brentford neglect or decline to suppress the nuisance; whether his attention has been called to the injury done to evergreen trees and shrubs in Kew Gardens by the smoke-laden air; and whether he will consider the feasibility of instituting proceedings against the offending parties.
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (MR. AKERS DOUGLAS,, St. Augustine's) KentThe cultivation of coniferous trees is not attended with success in the northern part of the gardens owing to the smoke of Brentford; but it is already carried on in the (southern part on the lines suggested. The matter referred to in the second Question is receiving most careful consideration.