CHAP. cm. 



5ALICA CE^. 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 30ft. 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, Bosc observes, it has been considered 

 by some as a distinct species, and the name of F. viminea applied to it. 



Geograp/it/, 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. canadensis, and, subsequently, to the black 

 Italian poplar (P. monilifera). 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 Annuls, as quoted 

 in Marty n\ Mill.) 



Properties and Uses. In 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. tremula. It weighs, in a green state, 60 lb. 9 oz. per 

 cubic foot; half-dry, 42 lb. 13oz. ; and dry, 29 lb. : 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. tremula, 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. 



5p 4 



