EVER since the spread of metal trees in Blackburn, from Greenbank to Philips Road, two things have puzzled me.

Firstly, are they propagated from seeds or cuttings? Secondly, in Autumn, can the fallen leaves be used to make razor blades? However, walking along Whalley Range recently, as I approached the newly landscaped people's college site, I thought I spotted the answer to my first question, a metal seed pod.

But, on putting on my spectacles I realised the object was, alas, a discarded oil can.

G WHEATMAN, Whalley New Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.