POPLAR OR TULIP TREE. 
27 
which a tree belongs only by cutting it. It is known in general that the 
White Poplar grows in dry, gravelly, and elevated places ; it is recognised 
too by its branchy summit, and by the small proportion which the light 
yellow heart bears to the sap. The grain also, is coarser and harder, and 
the wood decays more speedily : hence it is always neglected when the 
other variety can be obtained. The Yellow Poplar possesses every quality 
requisite to fit it for so great a variety of uses, that I shall content myself 
with mentioning the most common. At New York and Philadelphia, and 
in the adjacent country, the Poplar is often employed, in the construction 
of houses, for rafters and for the joists- of the upper stories, for which pur- 
poses it is esteemed on account of its lightness and strength. In the other 
Middle States, in the upper parts of the Carolinas, and above all in the 
Western States, it is more generally used in building, and is considered as 
the best substitute for the Pine, the Red Cedar and the Cypress. Where- 
ever it abounds it serves for the interior work of houses, and sometimes for 
the exterior covering, as I observed in several small towns situated between 
Laurel Hill and the Monongahela river. It is hot easy in this region to 
procure pine boards, which otherwise would be preferred, as they do not, 
like those of Poplar, warp when exposed to the weather. The panels of 
doors, and of w r ainscots, and the mouldings of chimney-pieces are made of 
Poplar. In the States of Ohio and Kentucky, on the banks of the Miami 
river, and in the upper part of North Carolina, Poplar shingles about 15 
inches long are preferred for covering roofs, because they are the most 
durable, and because they are not liable to split by the. effect either of 
intense frost or of ardent sunshine. 
In all the large towns in the United States, Tulip Tree or Poplar boards, 
which are often 2 or 3 feet wide, are exclusively used for the panels of 
coaches and chaises. When perfectly dry, they receive paint well, and 
admit of a brilliant polish. The vicinity of Boston does not produce this 
tree, and the coach-makers procure it from New York and Philadelphia : 
it is also sent for the same use to Charleston, S. C., where the Tulip Trees 
are few in number and inferior in size. The seat of Windsor chairs, which 
are fabricated at New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and in many 
other towns, is always of Poplar ; a larger quantity of the wood than would 
be supposed is consumed in this way, and also in the manufacture of trunks 
which are covered with skins, and of bedsteads, which are stained in imi- 
tation of mahogany. I have remarked that the circular board and the 
wings of fanning-mills are of this wood; as it is easily wrought in the 
lathe, and is very light, it is much used for wooden bowls : it is also pre- 
ferred for the head of hair brooms or sweeping brushes. The farmers 
choose it for the eating and drinking troughs of cattle ; these troughs are 
formed of a single piece, and exposed to the weather they last as long as 
those made of Chesnut and of Butternut. In Kentucky, I have seen the 
