3820 THE POPLAR. 
Another small plantation adjoining the above, and similarly 
situated, is thirty-two years planted :— 
Girth at three feet from the ground. 
Poplar, Grey, F ? : ‘ 6 feet 8 inches. 
Do. Italian, . ‘ ; : Dog 2 x 
Birch, . ; : ‘ : ; Big WD 
Alder, . : F : : . Deg IB. 4 
Excess of moisture has here produced dead wood on every 
kind of tree except the grey poplar, which is in a healthy and 
vigorous state. Both species of poplar are about one-third 
taller than the other trees, which range from twenty-eight to 
thirty-two feet. 
One of the finest P. canescens ever produced in Britain 
grew on the lawn at Bicton Gardens, in Devonshire, and was 
blown down by the memorable hurricane of the morning of 
11th January 1866. Its dimensions were—girth, 14 feet 6 
inches ; length of stock, 49 feet; height of the tree, 114 
feet; and its age was between eighty and ninety years. It 
grew on good soil, that formerly had been a kitchen garden, 
and for many years turfed, and with a number of well-made 
American-plant beds dotted about it. A beautifully clear 
stream, about six feet wide, and four or five inches deep at 
all seasons, with the bottom paved with pebbles, ran through 
this ground. Under this stream the roots of the tree spread 
in all directions, as well as under the turf into all the Ameri- 
can beds, and often choked up drains in the vicinity. The 
timber for the most part was sound, and beautifully white 
and clean, but heart-rot had begun in the bottom of the 
trunk. Seven years ago, in forming a pond to propel 
machinery at a farm-steading situated in a very bleak ex- 
posure, 650 feet above the level of the sea, for the sake of 
economy and ornament, I formed the pond with a few 
islands. On these, and on the margins, was deposited the 
soil excavated during the progress of formation. These 
islands and hills in the vicinity were then planted with a 
variety of the common firs and broad-leaved plants usually 
