239 



this country by Menonites from Western Russia, and as near as I can learn through E. 

 H. Rondebush, of Topeka, who got a quantity of the seed direct from Russia last season, 

 it is a cross between the Morus nigra, or black Mulberry of Persia, and the Morus Tarta- 

 rica, a native Russian variety. It is a rapid grower, and stands transplanting almost 

 equal to the cotton wood, but its great superiority over the cotton wood is that its timber 

 is valuable, the tree ornamental, and the fruit useful. The timber is used in the manu- 

 facturing of cabinet-ware, and for durability as a fence post it is not surpassed even by 

 the Catalpa, or Red Cedar. It commences bearing at two years old, and is very produc- 

 tive. The fruit, which is about the size of blackberries, has a sub-acid, sweet taste, and 

 is used for dessert ; it also makes a pleasant light wine, and the leaves are largely used 

 for silk worm food. As to the rapidity of its growth, trees, the seed of which were 

 planted seven years ago, are now 25 feet in height, and from six to eight inches in diam- 

 eter. They grow to be very large, often sixty feet high, and from three to four feet in 

 diameter. So, I firmly believe, that after taking into consideration the certainty of grow- 

 ing when transplanted, the rapidity with which it grows, the value of the timber when 

 young, the usefulness of the fruit for the table, and the leaves for silk worms, we have 

 no tree of more value — the Catalpa excepted — for our Western prairies, both for present 

 and future generations, than the Russian Mulberry. 



THE POPLAR FAMILY. 



By Prof. Sereno Watson. 



The genus Populus stands at the head of all our deciduous trees in one respect. It 

 is the only one that raiiges over our whole area, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from 

 the Gulf and the Mexican boundary to British America. The willows, alders and birches 

 extend across the continent — but only as shrubs between the Mississippi and the Sierra 

 Nevada. The oaks and buttonwoods also reach the Pacific, but only through the southern 

 tier of territories. There is not a state or territory in which some one or more of the 

 species of Populus may not be found at home, and attaining the dimensions of a respectable 

 tree. This fact speaks for itself, and need not be dwelt upon. 



Unlike the much larger genus Salix, the members of which are all popularly known 

 only as " AVillows." the kindred genus Populus is as generally divided into three groups, 

 the " aspens," the " cotton woods," and the " poplars." This division has, in fact, a scien- 

 tific basis, and in the consideration of our subject, we cannot do better that to accept 

 this grouping. All are characterized by a resemblance to the willows, to a greater or less 

 degree, in their fondness for water ; the readiness with which they are propagated by 

 cuttings, the rapidity of their growth, and the light and soft quality of the wood. ^ 



The aspens have smooth or smoothish bark, an ovate leaf with a flattened stem, 

 which causes its perpetual quivering motion in the wind, and a narrow seed-pod and minute 

 seed. They also are the least in size, rarely exceeding a height of fifty feet. We 

 have two species, the " Quaking Asp " (Populus tremuloides), and the " Large-toothed 

 Aspen" (P. grandidentata). A third species, [P. heterophylla), also technically belongs 

 here, though it has rougher bark, a round leaf -stalk, and becomes a somewhat larger tree. 

 The two latter are confined to the Atlantic region, from the Alleghanies and western New 

 England to the Mississippi. The Quaking Asp, on the other hand, is of very wide range, 

 extending from the Arctic zone to all our northern States, to New Mexico, Nevada, and 

 California. In the westei-n mountains it is found reaching an altitude of 10,000 feet or 

 more. It is peculiar in its habits, growing usually in dense groves in moist valleys or on 

 mountain slopes, to the exclusion of everything else, the straight, smooth, slender trunks 

 very uniform in size, though never large. In the newer territories its long, straight poles 

 are sought for fencing, and notwithstanding the general poor repute of the wood of this 

 genus for out-door uses, they are said to be more durable than pine. 



The cottouAvoods are larger trees, with rough cracked bark, the triangular leaves 

 with a scalloped margin and flattened stalks, and the much broader pods with larger 

 seeds. Their range is southern, scarcely passing to the north of lat. 42°. The species as 



