26 
THE NATIVE TREES OF RHODE ISLAND. 
shapes. Rhode Island has them all, and in well-grown specimens 
rarely, if ever, excelled elsewhere. 
For wide avenues the elm is well adapted, but lines of these 
trees should not be set where they will be cramped for room to 
spread. The elm bears transplanting well, but should not be 
topped when reset, as may be done properly with the maple. 
The branches must grow naturally, or an ill-shaped tree will be 
the result. 
Many elms are already historic ; others are to be so. Among 
the trees planted to commemorate the lives of those who have, in 
some way, rendered valued service to human kind, the elm is 
conspicuous. It is well. Plant this tree, which combines more of 
the elements of grandeur, grace, and beauty than any other of the 
land which we inhahit. 
The Poplars. 
Yery much in contrast with the elms are the poplars. They 
have been in ill -repute from the time that an ungracious writer 
compared the quivering of the “ aspen leaf ” to the “ wagging of 
women’s tongues ! ” The wood of them all is soft, stringy, light, 
and will scarcely make a fire. Yet the trees seed abundantly, and 
acres and acres of poplars spring . up upon burned and waste 
grounds. Rut the day of redemption has come, and wood-paper 
stock takes them ; saws have been made to cut them into thin 
slices for small box-work, so that they are no longer worthless. 
The large-leaved species is the one which now is the most useful. 
It can be readily distinguished from other poplars, at all stages 
of its growth, by the coarse-toothed indentations in the margin of 
its leaves. In the forests it is a lofty tree, especially in northern 
woods. The bark is peculiar, having a leather-like appearance 
and feeling. On mature trees it flakes off in large patches, thus 
giving areas of greenish white mixed, up and down the body, 
with light and dark brown. As this tree grows very rapidly, even 
in very poor soil, and the wood of it is already high-priced, it may 
well receive attention of tree-planters. 
