240 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



inherent property for imbibing water, have caused many 

 bogs in the level parts of England to become drained in 

 a considerable degree, and also superficially improved by 

 the vegetable mould produced by our fallen leaves. We 

 grow, also, in dry places, on waste lands especially, and 

 such as are unfit for tillage ; and our wood, not being liable 

 to take fire, is consequently desirable for cottages and 

 stables. A red-hot poker, falling on a board of poplar, would 

 burn its way without causing more combustion than the 

 hole through which it passed ; the timber, if kept dry, is 

 also durable, and the poles may be used for spars. Care 

 must, however, be taken to remove the bark : or otherwise, 

 it is appropriated by insects, which ultimately destroy the 

 timber. 



Our buds, when beginning to unfold in spring, yield 

 a balsamic resinous substance on the slightest pressure 7 

 and this, when extracted by spirits of wine, smells like 

 storax. Prom these, in common with the buds of the fir 

 and birch, industrious bees provide the gummy material 



