122 FAMILIAR TREES 



and the root-suckers may be hoary but they are 

 never cottony as in some other species. 



Like all trees having a wide geographical range, 

 the Aspen, though not now much esteemed as 

 timber, has been applied to a variety of uses. In 

 Asia it occurs mainly in the north and in Asia Minor ; 

 it is abundant throughout Russia from the White 

 Sea to the Caucasus, and throughout Northern Africa 

 and the South of Europe ; and it is indigenous in 

 Ireland and as far north as Sutherland. The Aspen 

 grows at an altitude of 1,600 feet in Aberdeenshire. 

 Its bark has been employed in tanning, and its wood 

 is used in turnery and cooperage, as well as for many 

 minor purposes, such as sabots and clogs, and to a 

 small extent for gunpowder charcoal. 



During the last thirty years the wood, in common 

 with other species of Poplar, has come into extensive 

 use in the manufacture of paper-pulp, for which 

 purpose wood has all but superseded the Alpha 

 or Esparto grass of the Western Mediterranean. 



Formerly, however, it must have been more 

 valued than it is now, for in the reign of Henry V. 

 an Act of Parliament was passed (4 Hen. V., c. 3) 

 which was not repealed until the reign of James I. 

 to prevent its consumption otherwise than for the 

 making of arrows, with a penalty of ]00 shil- 

 lings if used for making pattens or clogs. Spenser 

 alludes to it as " the Aspine good for staves." 



Its roots, running near the surface, are apt to 

 impoverish the soil, and its leaves, when fallen, kill 

 the grass, though, whilst on the tree, their constant 

 motion so permits the passage of light as to render 



