CHAP. CIII. SALICA CEZ, PO’PULUS. 1653 
abundance, have, as before observed 
(p. 1637.), a striking effect. The cap- 
sules of the female catkins are round ; 
and the seeds which they enclose are 
enveloped in a beautiful white cotton. 
The seeds ripen in May, and are soon 
disseminated to a great distance by the 
winds. The tree is of rapid growth, 
especially in good soil, in moist situ- 
ations, or on the banks of rivers. In 
the climate of London, it attains the 
height of 30 ft. or 40 ft. in ten years; 
and, when planted for timber, arrives 
at perfection in from forty to fifty 
years ; beginning to decay when about sixty or eighty years old. It bears 
lopping ; and, when treated as a pollard, it produces abundance of shoots. 
In moist soil, when cut down to the ground annually, it, throws up numerous 
shoots, like willows ; and in that state, Bose observes, it has been considered 
by some as a distinct species, and the name of P. viminea applied to it. 
Geography, History, §c. P. nigra has nearly the same geographical range 
as P. alba; but it is rather less common in the colder parts of Europe than 
that tree. It appears to have been known to the ancients, being mentioned 
both by Theophrastus and Pliny. In modern times, it was first described 
by Bauhin. Gerard mentions it as growing as high as the white poplar, 
“and now and then higher.’ Till about the beginning of the present century, 
it was the poplar most extensively introduced into British plantations ; but it 
has since given way, first to P, canadénsis, and, subsequently, to the black 
Italian poplar (P. monilffera). In the district of Waas, in Flanders, the 
whole of which is distributed into small enclosures, not more than an 
acre and a half in extent, great quantities of black and white poplars are 
planted in the hedgerows, 16 ft. or 18 ft. asunder. They are not suffered 
to grow to any size, but are cut down every twenty or twenty-four years, and 
replaced by young plants of the same sort. The largest trees are always 
cut down first, to prevent the land from being too much shaded. Fifty trees 
are allowed to an acre, and they are generally sold for seven or eight florins a 
piece, for making sabots, of which they not only send a prodigious quantity 
into other provinces, but also supply all Holland. (Young’s Annals,as quoted 
in Martyn’s Mill.) 
Properties and Uses. Yn a natural state, the leaves and young shoots are 
eaten by cattle, and the wood by beavers. Artificially, the wood is applied 
to all the different purposes of that of P. alba. Its most general use, on 
the Continent, is for packing-cases, more especially for the transport of 
bottled wines.’ The wood is yellow, soft, and, being more fibrous than 
that of any other species of poplar, it splits more readily than the wood of 
either P. alba or P. trémula. It weighs, in a green state, 60lb. 9 oz. per 
cubic foct ; half-dry, 421b. 130z.; and dry, 29lb.: thus losing more than 
one half its weight by drying; and it loses, by shrinking, more than a sixth 
of its bulk. It is more employed by joiners and cabinet-makers than 
the wood of P. trémula, because it is softer, and rather easier to work. 
The wood never splinters, and is incomparable, according to Evelyn, for 
all sorts of white wooden vessels, as trays, bowls, and other turner’s ware. 
It is used for making clogs, and for the soles, as well as heels, of shoes. It 
is employed by the cartwright ; and Vitruvius reckons it among the building 
timbers. Planted thick, and cut down for rafters, poles, and rails, few 
trees make a quicker return. It forms a very indifferent fuel, being in 
this respect to the beech as 792 is to 1540, The only European tree 
which is inferior to it as a fuel is the Lombardy poplar. The bark, in Russia, 
is used for preparing morocco leather ; and, when it is pulverised, it is eaten 
by sheep. In Britain, it is used, like that of the oak, for tanning leather. 
op 4 
