318 THE POPLAR. 
a few inches, they should be dressed by rubbing off all the 
young growths except the strongest on each plant, which 
should be chosen for the stem of the future tree. One-year- 
old plants are often about two feet high, and are sometimes 
planted out at that age. After two years, in ground of ordi- 
nary quality, plants range from three to five feet. This is 
the ordinary age for transplanting into their final destination. 
If required larger for hedgerows, or special purposes, they 
should be replanted into greater space in the nursery. 
P. alba: The White Poplar (synonymes: The abele tree ; 
the downy poplar; the Dutch beech tree).—This tree is a 
native of different countries in Europe. Although it grows 
wild in many parts of Britain, yet my experience of it makes 
me believe that this form of the tree is not a native, but 
an imported species. It is indigenous to Palestine, and the 
name Abele is supposed to be derived from the name of a 
place where the tree abounds in the plains of Nineveh on 
the banks of rivers; and the timber of this species. is said 
to be the shittim-wood of Scripture. This tree has several 
varieties, all remarkable for the striking contrast in colour 
between the upper and under surface of their leaves; the 
upper being of a dark-green, while the colour underneath is 
pure white and very downy. The distinguishing points of 
the varieties are size, vigour of growth, figure of foliage, dis- 
tinctness in colour of foliage, and hardiness of constitution, 
and generally the finer and the more beautiful the contrast 
of colour in the leaves, the more weak and tender the variety. 
That known under the name “ white Egyptian,” is particu- 
larly fine in the colour of its foliage, but it is the most 
tender; while the common white, and that known as aceri- 
folia, with a deeply lobed leaf like a maple, are the strongest 
growing of the species alba, Propagation by cuttings of the 
branches is not successfully practised in this species; but as 
it is apt to produce suckers from the root, they are some- 
times resorted to, as well as cuttings of the root, as a 
means of increasing the tree. Seeds of this species are 
seldom to be obtained, and layers are found to make the best 
