130 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



general arrangement of the groves, and the 

 undulation of the ground, that it is scarcely 

 possible to give directions where to plant this 

 Italian tree, without being on the spot. 

 However, we may venture to recommend its 

 being planted in places where it is desirable 

 to break the uniformity of the sky line. This 

 tree possesses one beauty peculiar to itself, 

 which is its waving mien when agitated by the 

 wind, for its whole body bows in as graceful 

 a manner as the bending corn; whilst other 

 trees have only their foliage, or smaller 

 branches, moved by the air, and although it 

 does not catch masses of light in the happy 

 manner of the elm, yet the quivering play- 

 fulness of its foliage is both agreeable to the 

 eye and the ear. 



The value of different timber-trees in dif- 

 ferent countries, depends greatly on the cus- 

 toms and habits of the people. In the plains 

 of Naples, where there is a demand for this 

 soft wood, it is customary for a peasant, on 

 the birth of a daughter, to plant a row of 

 poplar trees, which are cut down and sold at 

 the end of seventeen years, to make up a for- 

 tune for her ; for it is not customary in that 

 country for a young man, however poor he 

 may be himself, to take a portionless wife. 



In many parts of Italy, the poplar is still 



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