THE POPLAR. 



443 



bark of the horse chestnut has been employed 

 with some success in dyeing yellow. 



This tree is extremely well adapted for the 

 ornament of parks and pleasure grounds, as it 

 grows to a large size, and forms a beautiful regu- 

 lar head. The buds, before they shoot out, be- 

 come turgid and large, so that they have a good 

 effect to the eye by their bold appearance, long 

 before the leaves appear. A pecuUarity of these 

 buds is, that as soon as the leading shoot bursts 

 out, it continues to grow so fast as to be able to 

 form its whole summei''s shoot in about three 

 weeks or a month's time. After this it grows 

 little more in length, but thickens, and becomes 

 strong and woody, and forms the buds for the 

 next year's shoot. The flowers are in full blow 

 about the 12th of May, and on fine trees make 

 a noble appearance. This tree is generally raised 

 from the nuts. These should be collected in 

 autumn, and sown in spring. If the nuts, pre- 

 vious to being put into the ground, are steeped 

 for a short time in water, they will more cer- 

 tainly, and more quickly spring up into 

 plants. 



The Poplae (populm). Natural family 

 amentacecB; dioscia, octandria, of Linnaeus. In 

 ancient times the public places of Rome were 

 planted with rows of this tree, whence it came to 

 be called arbor populi, and from this probably 

 we derive the common name it now bears. 



There are about sixteen species of this family 

 enumerated. Their general aspect is that of 

 tall, straight, and light trees, with the branches 

 in general rising up perpendicularly instead of 

 spreading out horizontally. 



The leaves vary in size and shape in the dif- 

 ferent species; generally they are small, oval, 

 cordate, or deltoid, with long, slender petioles, 

 and light coloured on the under side. The flowers 

 are male and female, on distinct plants, and both 

 are arranged in the form of an amentum. The 

 flowers appear about the beginning of April, and 

 in two months the seeds are perfected. 



The smaU-leaved white poplar is a native of 

 most parts of Europe; but it is doubtful whether 

 the large-leaved one, the abele, be a native of 

 England, — at all events, the plants of it were 

 obtained chieflyfrom Flanders in the seventeenth 

 century. The poplar grows very rapidly. In 

 favourable situations it will make shoots three 

 inches in diameter, and sixteen feet long, in the 

 course of a single season. The loppings of the 

 poplar are not very inflammable, and thus they 

 are superior to those of the elm, and many other 

 trees, for heating ovens, and for other purposes 

 in which the loppings of trees are used. 



The wood of the poplar is soft, and it is far 

 from durable; but it is not apt either to swell 

 and shrink, or to warp, and it is very light, so 

 that it is employed for butchers' trays, hogs' 

 troughs, and other articles, in which lightness 



and cheapness are preferred to durability. It 

 is possible, in consequence of the rapidity with 

 which the poplar grows, and the ease with which 

 it can be worked, that, on the spot where it is 

 produced, it may be more economical for com- 

 mon household purposes, and for casks and pack- 

 ages for dry goods, than more durable timber. 

 It is a tree largely cultivated by the Dutch, being 

 well adapted to their moist soil and climate. 

 On the Continent a species of poplar is manu- 

 factured into thin slices, called sparterie, which 

 is made up into ladies' bonnets. The seeds of 

 the white poplar, also, are surrounded with a sort 

 of cotton, of which it has been attempted to 

 manufacture paper and even cloth. Pallas, in 

 his voyages, attempted to show that the cotton 

 of the Populus alba was as valuable as that of 

 America; but no experiments upon it have yet 

 been successful. 



In Holland, the black poplai' is also much cul- 

 tivated. It grows rapidly, is out down at about 

 twenty-four years old, and made into wooden 

 shoes, and other articles. The timber is of nearly 

 the same quality as that" of the white poplar, 

 perhaps a little better; and it is used for almost 

 the same purposes. 



The trembling poplar, or aspen, is singular on 

 account of the agitation of its leaves by the 

 slightest breeze that can stir. It is very gener- 

 ally diffused, and the timber of it, though it 

 does not attain quite the same size, is applied to 

 the same purposes. 



The leaves of almost all the poplars are of a 

 pale or silver colour on the under sides, and the 

 twigs are flexible, which gives them an agreeable 

 variation of colour when agitated by the wind. 

 The susceptibility of motion is one of the acci- 

 dental beauties of trees; and the motion of the 

 poplar is peculiarly graceful, for it waves in one 

 simple sweep from the top to the bottom, and 

 the least breath of wind stirs it, when other trees 

 are at rest. 



The Lombardy poplar grows rapidly, and 

 shoots in a compact spire to a great height. It 

 is not so liardy as the others; but when planted 

 in a favourable soil, it wiU grow at the rate of 

 four or five feet in height annually. 



The timber of the Lombardy poplar is even 

 worse than that of the other poplars; but for 

 temporary pui'poses the rapidity of its growth is 

 some compensation. It is, perhaps, the lightest 

 of timber, and, therefore, well calculated for 

 packing-cases; and though soft, it will bear some 

 strain without breaking. The vessels in which 

 the people of Lombardy carry and squeeze their 

 grapes are all made of this poplar; and they also 

 frequently train their vines to the tree. In 

 England it is chiefly used as an ornamental tree. 

 The Lombardy poplar is, so far as has been ob- 

 served, the only spiry tree that is deciduous, or 

 sheds its leaves ; the tree which it most nearly 



