CHAP. CIII. 9ALICA V CE^:. Po'PULUS. 1643 



consequently, the light and air are more freely admitted to the road, than when 

 the road sides are planted with trees that branch to the ground, such as oaks, 

 elms, or limes. On the Continent, the nakedness of the trunks of road-side 

 trees is an objection rather than an advantage, on account of the superior 

 dryness of the climate. In the Nouveau Cours d* Agriculture, it is recom- 

 mended to substitute white poplars, in old elm or oak avenues, for any trees 

 that may have died from accident or disease, on account of the rapidity of its 

 growth, and the short time which will be requisite for it to attain an equal 

 height with the elms or oaks remaining. 



Poetical, mythological, and legendary Allusions. According to the ancient 

 mythology, the white poplar was consecrated to Hercules, because he destroyed 

 ( 'iic'iis in a cavern adjoining Mount Aventinus, which was covered with these 

 trees; and, in the moment of his triumph, bound his brows with a branch of 

 white poplar (that being the only tree near him), as a token of his victory. 

 When he descended into the infernal regions, he also returned with a wreath 

 of white poplar round his head. (Stackh. Comm. de Theophrast., p. 217.) It was 

 this, says the fable, that made the abele leaves of the colour they are now. The 

 perspiration from the hero's brow made the inner part of the leaf, which 

 touched his forehead, white; while the thick smoke arising from some parts of 

 the infernal regions turned the upper surface of the leaves almost black. 

 Persons offering sacrifices to Hercules were always crowned with branches of 

 this tree; and all who had gloriously conquered their enemies in battle wore 

 garlands of it, in imitation of Hercules. The poets frequently mention the 

 white poplar. Homer, when describing the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon, 

 states that it was made by Tychius, a skilful currier of Hyle ; and it is said 

 that the Tychius thus immortalised was a real person, beneath the poplar tree 

 at whose door Homer had often sat, reciting his poems, while the kind- 

 hearted currier gave him food, and relieved his necessities. In another part 

 of the Iliad, Homer compares the fall of Simoisius, when killed by Ajax, to 

 that of a poplar : 



" So falls a poplar, that in watery ground 

 Raised high its head, with stately branches crown 5 d." 



Ovid mentions that Paris had carved the name of (Enone on a poplar. Virgil, 

 in his Georgics, gives directions for the culture of this tree, and mentions it in 

 his Eclogues ; and Horace, in his Ode to Dellius (lib. ii.), speaks of the white 

 poplar as a tree which delights to grow on the banks of rivers. Modern 

 poets have also noticed this tree. Cowper sings of 

 " The poplar, that with silver lines his leaf ;" 



and Barry Cornwall says, 



" The green woods moved, and the light poplar shook 

 Its silver pyramid of leaves." 



Sterne, in his Sentimental Journey, represents Maria as sitting under a poplar. 

 In the Sentiment of Flowers, it is said that the ancients consecrated this tree 

 to time, because the leaves are in continual agitation ; and, being of a blackish 

 green on one side, with a thick white cotton on the other, they were supposed 

 to indicate the alternation of day and night. 



Soil, Situation, Projwgation, and Culture. For the abele to attain a large 

 size, the soil in which it is planted should be loamy, and near water; though 

 on a dry soil, where the tree will grow slower, the timber will be finer-grained, 

 and more durable. In France, it is found to grow, not only in marshy places, 

 but in dry sands ; and it is a mistake to suppose that it will thrive in stagnant 

 marshes in any climate. The French writers recommend it strongly for 

 avenues, planted at a distance of 2-1 ft. tree from tree, on the side of a road 

 from 60ft. to 100ft. wide; and, for filling up blanks in grown-up avenues, the 

 white poplar is considered the best tree known. ( See above ; and Diet, des Eaux 

 cl Forcls, art. Avenue.) In British nurseries, it is commonly propagated by 

 layers ; which, as they seldom ripen the points of their shoots, or produce 



