CHAP. CIII.

salica'ceje. po'pulus.

1643

consequently, the light and air are more freely admitted to the road, than whenthe road sides are planted with trees that branch to the ground, such as oaks,elms, or limes. On the Continent, the nakedness of the trunks of road-sidetrees is an objection rather than an advantage, on account of the superiordryness of the climate. In the Nouveau Cours d’Agriculture, it is recom-mended to substitute white poplars, in old elm or oak avenues, for any treesthat may have died from accident or disease, on account of the rapidity of itsgrowth, and the short time which will be requisite for it to attain an equalheight with the elms or oaks remaining.

Poetical, mythological, and legendary Allusions. According to the ancientmythology, the white poplar was consecrated to Hercules, because he destroyedCacus in a cavern adjoining Mount Aventinus, which was covered with thesetrees; and, in the moment of his triumph, bound his brows with a branch ofwhite poplar (that being the only tree near him), as a token of his victory.When he descended into the infernal regions, he also returned with a wreathof white poplar round his head. ( Stackh. Comm, de Thcophrast., p. 217.) It wasthis, says the fable, that made the abele leaves of the colour they are now. Theperspiration from the hero’s brow made the inner part of the leaf, whichtouched his forehead, white; while the thick smoke arising from some parts ofthe infernal regions turned the upper surface of the leaves almost black.Persons offering sacrifices to Hercules were always crowned with branches ofthis tree; and all who had gloriously conquered their enemies in battle woregarlands of it, in imitation of Hercules. The poets frequently mention thewhite poplar. Homer, when describing the shield of Ajax, son of Telamon,states that it was made by Tychius, a skilful currier of Hyle; and it is saidthat the Tychius thus immortalised was a real person, beneath the poplar treeat whose door Homer had often sat, reciting his poems, while the kind-hearted currier gave him food, and relieved his necessities. In another partof the Iliad, Homer compares the fall of Simoisius, when killed by Ajax, tothat of a poplar: —

“ So falls a poplar, that in watery ground

Raised high its head, with stately branches crown’d.”

Ovid mentions that Paris had carved the name of CEnone on a poplar. Virgil,in his Georgies, gives directions for the culture of this tree, and mentions it inhis Eclogues ; and Horace, in his Ode to Dellius (lib. ii.), speaks of the whitepoplar as a tree which delights to grow on the banks of rivers. Modernpoets have also noticed this tree. Cowper sings of—

“ The poplar, that with silver lines his leafand Barry Cornwall says,—

The green woods moved, and the light poplar shook

Its silver pyramid of leaves.”

Sterne, in his Sentimental Journey , represents Maria as sitting under a poplar.In the Sentiment of Flowers, it is said that the ancients consecrated this treeto time, because the leaves are in continual agitation; and, being of a blackishgreen on one side, with a thick white cotton on the other, they were supposedto indicate the alternation of day and night.

Soil, Situation, Propagation, and Culture. For the abele to attain a largesize, the soil in which it is planted should be loamy, and near water; thoughon a dry soil, where the tree will grow slower, the timber will be finer-grained,and more durable. In France, it is found to grow, not only in marshy places,but in dry sands; and it is a mistake to suppose that it will thrive in stagnantmarshes in any climate. The French writers recommend it strongly foravenues, planted at a distance of 24 ft. tree from tree, on the side of a roadfrom 60ft. to 100ft. wide; and, for filling up blanks in grown-up avenues, thewhite poplar is considered the best tree known. ( See above; and Diet, des Eauxet Forets, art. Avenue.) In British nurseries, it is commonly propagated bylayers; which, as they'seldom ripen the points of their shoots, or produce