OF FOREST-TREES. 211 



furnish a kind of copse; But in case you plant them of rooted trees, or cjjAP XV. 

 smaller sets, fix them not so deep; for though we bury the truncheons 

 thus profound, yet is the root which they strike commonly but shallow. 

 They will make prodigious shoots in fifteen or sixteen years ; but then 



durable, if kept dry, and the poles make tolerable spars after the bark has been carefully 

 removed. The bark, when permitted to remain upon poles of soft wood, harbours 

 animalculae, which in time eat away the strength of the timber. 



4. POPULUS ('b^i.s^m/fjsb^ J foliis subcordatis denticulatis. Lin. Sp. PI. 1464'. The 



CAROLINA POPLAR. 



This Poplar grows to a large timber-tree, and has a peculiar majesty. It is an exceedingly swift 

 grower, insomuch that it has been known to shoot ten feet in the space of one summer. The 

 bark is smooth, and of a whitish colour ; tiiough that on the young shoots is of a fine green. 

 The young shoots have five angles. The bark of which these are composed, being extended 

 by the future growth, leaves the traces of these angles on the older branches ; and this gives 

 the tree in winter a particular look; lor at the base of each bud they curve over and meet. 

 Thus, between every bud, there are formed figures like niches of public buildings, with an 

 upright in the middle, at the top of which, like an ornament, is seated the bud for the future 

 shoot. Of all the trees in a collection, no one more agreeably entertains us by its leaves than 

 this, whether we consider the colour, figure, or size. Their colour is a light shining green, 

 which is heightened in the autumn, by the strong mid-rib, and the large veins that issue from 

 it, turning to a red ; the lesser veins also being in some degree affected, occasion upon the 

 same leaf an agreeable contrast. They are heart-shaped, and notched at the edges. But 

 the size of the leaves, gives this tree its greatest dignity ; These majestic leaves are placed alter- 

 nately on the branches ; though, as the tree advances in height, they diminish in size. This 

 species shoots late in the autumn ; and the young shoots have their ends often killed in hard 

 winters, which is an imperfection, as it causes the tree to have a very bad look in the spring, 

 both before and when the leaves are putting out : These, however, when they appear, make 

 ample amends for the former defect. The flowers afford no beauty, being only catkins, like 

 other Poplars. 



5. POPULUS (heterophylla) foliis cordatis primoribus villosis. Lin. Sp. PI. 1464. 



The VIRGINIA POPLAR. 



This species of Poplar also forms a large timber-tree. The branches are numerous, veined, 

 and angular. The leaves are heart-shaped, broad, slightly serrated, and downy on their first 

 appearance. The flowers come out in loose catkins, and make little show ; they appear early 

 in the spring, and are succeeded by numerous downy seeds, which are carried by the winds 

 to a considerable distance. 



" Arise, ye winds, 'tis now your time to blow, 

 "And aid the work of nature : On your wings 

 "The pregnant seeds conveyed, shall plant a race 

 " Far from their native soil." 



The Lombardy, or Po Poplar, is another species of this tree ; but there are none in this 



L 1 2 



