122 FAMILIAR TREES 
and the root-suckers may be hoary—but they are 
never cottony as in some other species. 
Like all trees having a wide geographical range, 
the Aspen, though not now much esteemed as 
timber, has been applied to a variety of uses. In 
Asia it occurs mainly in the north and in Asia Minor; 
it is abundant throughout Russia from the White 
Sea to the Caucasus, and throughout Northern Africa 
and the South of Europe; and it is indigenous in 
Ireland and as far north as Sutherland. The Aspen 
grows at an altitude of 1,600 feet in Aberdeenshire. 
Its bark has been employed in tanning, and its wood 
is used in turnery and cooperage, as well as for many 
minor purposes, such as sabots and clogs, and to a 
small extent for gunpowder charcoal. 
During the last thirty years the wood, in common 
with other species of Poplar, has come into extensive 
use in the manufacture of paper-pulp, for which 
purpose wood has all but superseded the Alpha 
or Esparto grass of the Western Mediterranean. 
Formerly, however, it must have been more 
valued than it is now, for in the reign of Henry V. 
an Act of Parliament was passed (4 Hen. V., c 3) 
which was not repealed until the reign of James I. 
to prevent its consumption otherwise than for the 
making of arrows, with a penalty of 100. shil- 
lings if used for making pattens or clogs. Spenser 
alludes to it as “the Aspine good for staves.” 
Its roots, running near the surface, are apt to 
impoverish the soil, and its leaves, when fallen, kill 
the grass, though, whilst on the tree, their constant 
motion so permits the passage of light as to render 
