of the Northern Forest 63 



not excepting any exotic tree whatever, the Willows 

 rightly grown and grouped are the most beautiful. Few 

 who care for trees and have ever seen a Willow planta- 

 tion in its prime, will readily forget its beauty, any 

 more than the owner can forget its profit. This Willow, 

 which will not arrive at its fullest size and quaHty in 

 undrained land, grows freely on the slopes of exposed 

 hills; indeed, there are few situations in which it will 

 not grow, in which respect it differs from the White 

 Willow, which is more of a marsh and river-side tree. 



As regards the Tree Willows, some of their supposed 

 hybrids or varieties, such as the Bedford Willow, are 

 worth growing both for effect and for woodland. 



The White {or Dutch) Poplar. For many years in 

 England the fashion for coniferous trees has thrown the 

 planting of summer-leafing trees into the background, 

 and among the trees that have suffered most from this 

 neglect is this noble Poplar. Here and there, in getting 

 down from the hills in Kent or in Wiltshire, and going 

 near an old house or village, we see it, perhaps, rising 

 with a splendid dignity from the hollows and we ask 

 ourselves if any tree of our country is more beautiful or 

 stately. Too often it is solitary, whereas it is seen to 

 best effect in groups. In our country, in hollows and 

 sheltered places, there is no tree that could be used to 

 better effect, even in places too moist or unsuitable for 

 other trees. Rabbits are very destructive of young White 

 Poplars, and in a plantation I have made of it many tall 

 young trees are all gnawed round and snap off at the 

 base ; so that when planting the White Poplar in places 

 where rabbits abound it should certainly be wired for 

 six or seven years. 

 A native of our own country as well as of central and 



