524 
shaded Fifty trees are allowed to an acre, and they are generally sold for seven or eight florins 
apiece, for making wooden shoes, of which they not only send a prodigious quantity into other pro¬ 
vinces, but likewise supply all Holland with them.* 
The Black Poplar is a native of Europe, from Sweden to Italy; near rivers and in moist woods. 
Species 4, Lombardy Poplar Tree . (Populus Dilatata.) 
The Lombardy, Turin, or Po Poplar differs from the common Black sort chiefly in its close coni¬ 
cal manner of growth, like the Cypress. The leaves are greater in breadth than length, whereas in 
the Black Poplar the longitudinal diameter is the greatest. 
This has been esteemed by some as no more than a variety of that; and indeed it can scarcely 
be considered as a distinct species. 
It is recommended for the quickness of its growth. A correspondent in the Gentleman's Maga¬ 
zine (Vol. LVEI. p. 886,) mentions a tree of this sort, not planted much more than ten years, forty 
feet high at least, and four feet or more in girt, which has gained for the last three years from three 
to four inches each year in thickness, and has made shoots near four feet long. As it does not flame 
readily when burnt, he thinks it might be useful for beams and floors of houses; but he has been 
informed that it decays near the ground in a few years, that the wood is not durable, and that the 
young shoots are apt to die in hard weather. 
Mr. Boutcher observes, that it grows even faster than the common sorts, is propagated with equal 
facility by cuttings, and is as hardy, and will succeed in the same kinds of land. 
A correspondent in Young's Annals asserts, that the Italian Poplar is fit to cut for building uses 
in twelve years, and that at eight years growth they are forty feet high. For rafters, small beams, 
studs, boards, &c. he says, they have stood sixteen years without the least decay, having been brushed 
over with oil, tar, and brickdust, laid on hot. 
Dr. Anderson, who recommends it to be tried for live fences, says that he has lately met with 
some facts, that seem to show that the Lombardy Poplar is not such an exceeding quick grower, or 
so valuable a tree in other respects, as we were made to believe when it was first introduced into 
Great Britain.-f- 
The quickness of growth depends upon the soil and situation in which it is planted. Mr. Young, 
in his Irish Tour, mentions some which grew to the height of thirty-five feet in five years, and many 
at two years old were of twelve feet. 1 have measured one of my own trees, which has been planted 
about twenty-five years, and find that it measures six feet five inches round, a foot above the ground, 
and six feet, at the height of five feet; it is sixty-three feet five inches high, and has not increased 
so much in height as in girt, for some years past. 
For timber it seems to be inferior to the common Black Poplar, but it may answer tolerably well 
for floors and other purposes where it is not exposed to the weather, and may prove a useful sub¬ 
stitute for deal. 
Mr. Songa, his Imperial Majesty’s Consul here, suggests, that although the Po or Pine-Poplar, as 
he calls it, seems regarded in this country only for its beauty and quick growth, yet in a trading 
country like ours it may be of some consequence in packing all sorts of dry goods. The great quan¬ 
tity therefore planted of late years in the neighbourhood of London may in a short time turn to good 
account for that purpose. 
* Young's Annals, 15, 434. 
f Essays, X, X00. 
