334 Account of three Timber-Trees tvhkh 



Miller, fpeaking of trees of this defcription, fays " that they may be propagated by 

 feeds, in the fame manner as the common birch-tree, and are equally hardy. Some of the 

 trees now begin to produce their catkins in England, fo that we may hope to have plenty 

 of their feeds of our own growth, for at prefent we are fupplied with them from America. 

 As thefe grow more vigaroufly_; than, the cptumorv fort, and thrive on the moll barren- 

 ground, they may be cultivated to great advantage in England ; for their wood is much 

 efteemed in Canada, where the trees grow to ^ large fize : and they are by no means an 

 unfightly tree in parks ; for their flems are ftraight, the bark fmooth, and their leaves arc 

 much larger thgn.thofe of the, common birch ; fo may be planted in fuch places where few 

 ether trees will thrive." 



Mr. Hanburyfays : " The black Virginian birch, being of foreign growth. Is propagated 

 for wildernefs and ornamental plantations j but as it begins now to become pretty com- 

 mon, it is to be hoped it will foon make a figure among our foreft trees, it being equally 

 hardy with our common birch, and vi'ill arrive at a much greater magnitude. This fpecies 

 will grow to be upwards of fixty feet in height. The branches are fpotted, and more 

 fparingly fet on the trees than the common forts. The leaves are broader, grow on long 

 footftalks, and add a dignity to thp, appearance of the tree ; and as it is naturally of up- 

 jight and fwift growth, and arrives at fo great a magnitude in few years, prudence will 

 diredl us to let it have a (hare among our foreft trees, to plant them for ftandards in open 

 places, as well as to let them join with other trees of their own growth, in plantations 

 more immediately defigned for relaxation and pleafure." I planted one of thefe trees 

 nineteen years ago, and it is now forty-five feet fix inches in height, and three feet feven- 

 inches in the girth. 



The Athenian Poplar Tree, Populus (Gra^a) foli'is cordaiis, glahris, hafi glandnhfis^ rumti 

 crenaih ; petioUs comprejfts ,- rmnis iereiibus. The Athenian poplar is a native of tlie iilands 

 of the Archipelago, and was firft cultivated in England by Hugh duke of Northumberland,- 

 in the year 1779- Perhaps there is no deciduous tree fo beautiful, or fo proper for plea- 

 fure-grounds intended for ornament and {hade, as this poplar; having a fine upright 

 ftem ; the branches well difpofed ; the bark fmooth, and of a filvery hue, refembling 

 fatin-wood. The leaves, which are of a light green, are produced very early in the 

 fpring, and are retained on the tree longer than on any deciduous tree in this country, , 

 not falling off till late in the autumn : they are never blighted nor infefted with infedls,. 

 n,or does it lofe a leaf during the whole. fummer. Though the poplar is generally termed 

 an aquatic, this will grow in any foil or fituation; and is of quicker growth in dry up- 

 land than any tree we are acquainted with in this climate, though not quite of fuch quick 

 growth as the Huntingdonlhire willow in rich moift meadow land. In fuch a fituation, I 

 have fallen a Huntingdonfhire willow*, from which I made a ftaircafe when it was only 

 of nineteen years growth, from a cutting. The Atheeian poplar is propagated with the . 

 greateft advantage by fuckers and layers ; but it Is with great difficulty raifed from cuttings 

 or truncheons. The common way of raifing them, amonglt the nurferymeri, is, by 

 engrafting them on fome other poplar : but the trees thus raifed are of little value, being 

 very flow in their growth } and it is owing to this circumftance, perhaps, that tjieir real 



• I cannot find that this fpecies of willow has been defcribed by any botanical writer j but it is we)l known 

 among the nurferyraen by this name. 



wortJi 



