The Poplar. 



height of ten or twenty feet. These suckers are put into 

 nurseries wlien they are small, stand there till they are 

 large; and then, when planted out, are sure to lean on one 

 side. 



482. The Aspen has a little round leaf that is continu- 

 ally in motion when there is a breath of wind. The wood 

 of this tree is certainly good for as little as any wood can 

 well be. It is found in almost all our coppices ; and it con- 

 tinues to be found there, because people do not take the 

 pains to root it out. I never heard of any man that ever 

 thought of raising, or that ever wished to have, an Aspen 

 tree. If there should happen to be such a man^ he may be 

 gratified at any time, by cutting off a truncheon in Febru- 

 ary, of about two or three feet long, and sticking one-half 

 of it into the ground. The tree will come from this simple 

 operation, and this is a great deal more pains than it is 

 Avorth. 



483. The Black Poplar, or, as it is more frequently 

 called, the Black Italian Poplar, is a surprising thing 

 for quickness of growth. It is almost incredible, the size 

 to which a tree of this sort will attain in good ground in 

 the course of fifteen or twenty years. I planted some of 

 these trees in the plantation mentioned in paragraph 350. 

 They were, when planted, of about the same height of the 

 rest of the trees ; but, at the end of seven or eight years, 

 they were so lofty and so big, that the plantation looked 

 like here and there an old tree, with a parcel of little ones 

 planted round it. They were twice as big, and half as high 

 again, even as the Locusts. Thus situated, they were a 

 great dissight to the plantation, and I cut them down, and 

 tore up the roots, to put a stop to their breeding of suckers. 

 At the same time, I thinned out the Locusts, had the 



