254 TREMBLING POPLAR. BLACK POPLAR. 
feet in length in one year ; and the trees attain their 
full growth in the course of twenty years. The wood 
is white and soft, but tough and of close grain, and not 
subject to warp or shrink. Hence it has been found 
useful for the flooring of rooms, and for making laths 
and packing boxes. For turnery ware it is preferred 
to most other kinds of wood, on account of its peculiar 
whiteness, and the ease with which it is worked in the 
lathe. " Of this wood," says Evelyn, " people also 
made shields of defence, in sword and buckler days." 
The bark of the abele-tree is said to be serviceable 
as a remedy in intermittent fevers ; and Dioscorides 
informs us that if it be chopped small and sowed in 
rills, well and richly manured, it will yield a plentiful 
crop of mushrooms. 
263. The ASPEN, or TREMBLING POP LARPo- 
pulus tremula), is a tree which grows in moist woods; has 
nearly circular leaves, toothed and angular at the edges, 
smooth on both sides, and attached to footstalks so long and 
slender as to be shaken by the slightest wind. 
There is scarcely any situation in which the aspen 
will not flourish, but it succeeds best where the soil is 
moist and gravelly. Its tvood is light, porous, soft, and 
of white colour; anfl, though inferior in excellence to 
that of the white poplar, is applicable to many useful 
purposes, particularly for field-gates, the frames of 
pack-saddles, for milk-pails, clogs, and the wood- work 
of patterns. It is improper for bedsteads, as it is liable 
to be infested by bugs. In some countries the bark of 
the young trees is made into torches. 
264. The BLACK POPLAR (Populus nigra, Fig. 75) 
is a native tree of this country, known by its somezohat trowel- 
shaped leaves, which taper to a point, and are serrated, and 
smooth on both sides. 
This tree grows rapidly, and attains a considerable 
size. Its 'wood is soft and light, and in some respects 
useful to engravers ; and is occasionally sawed into 
boards, though these are not in general much esteemed. 
