The Ca\'\i)m\' Horticulturist. 357 



THE WHITE POPLAR AND ITS USES. 



THE wood oi Populus alba is white, soft, light and very tough ; it is used for 

 bent ware, and made into various kinds of hoops for tubs, pails and ships' 

 masts, etc. ; the timber is sawn into boards and strips from three-eights to 

 five-eights of an inch thick; it is then steeped and steamed to admit of its being 

 bent with ease and without splitting. It is also made into corn shovels, bottoms 

 of tubs, pails, corn and other measures, g.nd also used in cheap cabinet 

 work. I ought also to add that it is used extensively for railway carriage break 

 blocks, on account, I suppose, of the non-combustible character of its wood, 

 which will bear almost any amount of friction without igniting ; and, moreover, 

 it is very durable under friction. As a timber tree it is classed amongst inferior 

 kinds, but it is the best of all the Poplars.; at least, in some parts of the country 

 it is preferred to any other kind. It is worth from is. to is. 6d. per foot, but the 

 timber must be sound, clean and of large dimensions to realise this price ; smaller- 

 sized and ordinary quality trees sell at from lod. to is. per foot. The Black 

 Italian Poplar {P. inonilifera) is used for similar purposes as the White Poplar or 

 Abele, as it is also popularly called ; it is, however, a coarser tree with a more 

 branching habit, and, as a rule, it does not cut up so clean and free from small 

 knots as the latter, neither is its wood so white. It is not in such request for 

 bent ware as the Abele, and, in consequence, it is hardly worth so much per foot 

 in the market. Both these Poplars are extremely fast growers in moist heavy 

 land. The White Poplar exhibits a highly ornamental aspect in the landscape, 

 particularly in spring, when the foliage is unfolding its whiteness, presenting a 

 striking and pleasing contrast when associated with darker-foliaged trees. It is 

 also a most distinct and effective tree, owing to the whiteness and smoothness of 

 its stem, exhibiting a glittering appearance, particularly during sunshine, when its 

 bark looks almost as bright as polished silver. The name White Poplar is applied 

 to it on account of the white and woolly under-surface of the leaves ; its bjirk,too, 

 except when old, is white and very smooth. It is probably indigenous in ^Eastern 

 and Southern England, readily propagating itself by means of seeds and suckets. 

 — 0, in The Garden 



ERRORS IN GROUPING. 



AT least one person in three of those who plant trees in groups or bells loi 

 ornamental purposes commit errors in consequence of not taking "one 

 long look ahead." Probably, in many mstances, mistakes are made in 

 consequence of the ignorance of the persons directing the planting of the trees, as 



