WILLOWS AND POPLARS 149 



"She that long true love prof est, 

 She hath robbed me of my rest, 

 For she a new love loves, not mee. 

 Which makes me wear the willow.tree." 



The poplars are spoken of as "nurse trees" 

 and as "pioneers." They so often prepare the 

 way for other trees. When a fire sweeps 

 through the forest, the poplar is almost sure to 

 be the first seedling to spring up in the charred 

 waste. It grows rapidly and is soon large 

 enough to form shade for the more slow-grow- 

 ing trees which require such protection. The 

 early settlers always planted poplars. How 

 often we find venerable cottonwoods at cross- 

 roads ! Here and there stretch broken lines of 

 Lombardy poplars, marking the sight of a fence 

 row. Frequently a forlorn white poplar stands 

 alone in the middle of a pasture. Here was 

 once a pioneer home, or perchance an Indian 

 village. What tales some of these old trees 

 might tell! 



Though it is so closely related to the willow, 

 the poplar can never be mistaken for it. The 

 twigs are angled and stout, with none of the 

 supple grace of the willow. The leaves are 

 hard and thick and set on long petioles, or leaf 

 stems. In winter the leaf buds are covered with 



