THE CULTIVATED POPLARS. 209 



scapes. I like to see a tree of it standing out in front of a group 

 of maples or evergreens. Its whole attitude is then one of famir- - 

 iarity. 



The cottonwood is perhaps the best of all our poplars as a single 

 specimen. It makes a noble tree, spreading its gray branches far 

 and wide. But like the aspen, it is cheerful and restive. One is 

 not moved to lie under it, as he is under a maple or an oak. Its 

 leaves rustle with the lightest movement of air. The ripple of 

 its foliage always recalls to my mind the play of wavelets upon a 

 pebbly shore. The day is never so dark, but the cottonwood 

 reflects a flood of light. 



Some of the forms of the black poplar of Kurope are especially 

 satisfactory for the production of lively effects in planting. Of 

 these, I know of none better than the form known to nurserymen 

 as Populus elegans. It has a most pleasing light and tremulous 

 foliage, the effect of which is heightened by a twiggy character of 

 growth and a reddish cast to the leaf-stalks and young shoots. It 

 is an elegant tree, and well adapted to planting in front of heavier 

 foliage in the most conspicuous portion of the grounds. 



Some of the silver or white-leaved poplars produce the most 

 striking contrasts of foliage, especially if set near darker trees. 

 Bolle's poplar {Populus Bolleana of the nurseries) is one of the best of 

 these trees. Its habit is something like that of the L,ombardy. 

 The upper surface of the deeply lobed leaves is dark dull green, 

 while the under surface is almost snowy white. Such emphatic 

 trees as this should generally be partially obscured, by planting 

 them in amongst other trees so that they appear to mix with the 

 other foliage, or else they should be seen at some distance. Other 

 varieties of the common white poplar or abele are occasionally 

 useful, although most of them sprout badly and may become a 

 nuisance. But the planting of these immodest trees is so likely to 

 be overdone that I scarcely dare recommend them, although, 

 when skilfully used, they may be made to produce most excellent 

 effects. If any reader has a particular fondness for trees of this 

 class (or any others with woolly-white foliage) and if he has only 

 an ordinary farm-yard to ornament, let him reduce his desires to 

 a single tree, and then if that tree is planted well on the inside of 

 a group of other trees, no harm can result ! 



