122 FOREST TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 



is commemorated in the old, oft quoted distich of proverbial 

 lore — 



" Tho' heart of oak be e'er so stout 

 Keep me dry and I'll see him out." 



And still it holds good. Cattle are fond of the young shoots. 

 Horses are kept in good health by gnawing the logs, and 

 sheep and beaver thrive on the bark; as a special favorite 

 food, mixed with oatmeal, it has been used for human sus- 

 tenance in times of great scarcity, and for aught any can 

 say, may be again. To the poetic, artistic, and romantic eye, 

 the sunshine ever dances in active glee among the varnished 

 and restless foliage, and some are said to see therein, their 

 fair one — 



•• As the green poplar leaves in wanton play, 

 Dance for joy, at rosy break of day." 



Others, in graver mood, may apostrophize in this wise : 



" Lord ! all thy works are lessons — each contains 

 Some emblem of man's all-containing soul — 



And add — 



* * * " nor let my love 

 Among thy boughs disdain to perch and sing." 



And — if willing to believe it — a staff, scepter, shepherd's rod, 

 or crook, made of White Poplar in the olden oriental times, 

 denoted the ability or power of good, by suitable natural 

 truths adapted to the state of their flocks, or peoples, to guide 

 them to the good pastures we read of; they also signified 

 and served as supports to their own bodies, hence the uni- 

 versal use by shepherds, judges, kings, priests, prophets, and 

 travelers — as understood in the best emblematic sense — and 

 also in the opposite bad sense, their use by magicians. 

 Rods of the hazel and plane-tree were used in a somewhat 

 lower ideal, or symbolic sense : for all trees, with variety, 

 were emblematic of man's perceptivity, and were so used 

 with due regard to true correspondence, representation, and 

 rightful figures of speech. 



This stately poplar is neither so slender, towered, nor so 

 conic-topped as some others, but with rather large irregu- 

 larly rounded head ; the drip and shadow is not injurious to 

 vegetation which thrives well under it, In Autumn the 

 foliage brightens very brilliantly yellow, especially in the 

 higher intervales of the Sierras and the more arctic regions. 



