1644 “

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III,

abundance of fibrous roots the first season, ought to be transplanted into nur-sery lines for at least one year before removal to their final situation. Thetree is admirably adapted for thickening or filling up blanks in woods andplantations; and, for this purpose, truncheons may be planted 3in. or 4in. indiameter, and 10 ft. or 12 ft. high. These truncheons have the great advan-tage of not being overshadowed by the adjoining trees, which is almost alwaysthe case when young plants are used for filling up vacancies among old trees.The truncheons need not be inserted very deeply in the soil, because the rootswhich they protrude, like those of all other trees having creeping roots, ori-ginate in a part of the trunk near the surface. When the white poplar isplanted in masses, with a view to produce timber, the plants ought to be from15 ft. to 18 ft. apart every way, and they may be most profitably cut downat the end of 30 or 40 years; but, when they are only to produce poles offrom 6 in. to 9 in. in diameter, fit for roofing sheds and similar purposes, theyneed not be planted at a greater distance than from 6 ft. to 9 ft. every way;and, for coppice wood, from 4 ft. to 5 ft. is the proper distance. Owing to thesoftness of the wood, and its liability to shrink and crack, it is dangerous tocut off very large branches; and, even when branches of moderate size arecut off, the wound ought always to be covered over with grafting clay, orsome description of plaster, to exclude the air. The tree is considered,both by French and English authors, as bearing lopping worse than any otherspecies of the genus; and, when transplanted, the head should never be cutoff, and not even cut in, unless the tree is to be planted in a hot and drysoil.

Accidents and Diseases. When the tree is either carelessly pruned, or whena branch is broken off by accident, or a stump suffered to decay, the waterseldom fails to be conducted to the heart of the trunk, and, by bringing oncaries, to rot the timber. The leaves, and also the trunk, of the tree areliable to be infested by fungi, of which several species are common to thedifferent species of poplar. (See p. 1638.) The porosity of the trunk, stool,and roots is favourable to the production of fungi of the larger kinds; andthe Polyporus igniarius Fries may frequently be seen on the trunk of thetree, or on the stool of a tree that has been cut down, of gigantic size.

Statistics. Recorded Trees. At Strathfieldsaye, at Chalfont House, Bucks, and at Kingston,Surrey, Mitchell, writing in 1827, says, there are first-rate trees: at Longleat, he mentions some100 ft. high, with trunks from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter, and with 40 ft. to 60 ft. of clear bole. AtKnowle, he saw one 9 ft. in circumference, that had been felled and cross cut: the sap-woodwas about 4 in. thick, and the heart-wood spongy, like the inside of an overgrown turnip. AtWentworth House, Mitchell saw another overgrown abele, felled and sawn across, which presentedthe same appearance as the tree at Knowle. In Scotland, a tree at Drurnlanrig, in Dumfriesshire,which stood on a dry soil, and was 80 years old, was, in 1773, 80 ft. high, with a trunk 2ft. 6 in. indiameter. In the year 1769, a row of abeles, at Stevenston, in East Lothian, contained 122 trees, allabout 80 ft. high, and having clear trunks of from 20 ft. to 30 ft. The trunks were from 5 ft. to 7 ft.in circumference, and yet the trees stood only 7 ft. distant from each other. They grew in a deepmoist soil, were then 80 years old, and afforded a great quantity of timber, though they had begunto decay. ( Walker's Essays , p. 50.) In France, in the years 1804 and 1805, several abeles, whichwere planted at Versailles in the time of Louis XIV., and had long been regarded as magnificentspecimens, were cut down; and, though they had begun to decay, they were cut into planks, and soldat a high price, for naval purposes.

P opulus alba in England. In the environs of London, at Ham House, it is 85 ft. high, with atrunk 3$ It. in diameter. On the banks of the Thames, between Hampton Court and Chertsey, areseveral specimens upwards of 100 ft. high. In Devonshire, at KiUerton, 25 years planted, it is 73 ft.high, diameter of trunk 2 ft. 1 in., and of the head 38 ft. In the Isle of Jersey, 10 years planted, it is28 ft. high. In Surrey, at Deepdene, 10 years old, it is 27 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 6in., andof the head 10 ft. in Sussex, at Kidbrooke, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 3ft., and of thehead 30 ft. In Wiltshire, at Longford Castle, it is 100 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 6 ft., and of thehead 90 ft. In Berkshire, at Bear Wood, 12 years planted, it is 40 ft. high ; at Ditton Park, 90 yearsplanted, it is 80ft. high. In Denbighshire, at Llapbede Hall, 50 years planted, it is 63ft. high. InHerefordshire, at Stoke Edith Park, it is 85 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 4 ft., and of thehead 60 ft. In Leicestershire, at Belvoir Castle, 26 years planted, it is 60 ft. high. In Northampton-shire, at Clumber Park, 14 years planted, it is 25 ft. high. In Northumberland, at Hartburn,83 years planted, it is 82 ft. high. In Pembrokeshire, at Stackpole Court, 40 years planted, it is 60 ft.high, diameter of the trunk 2|ft., and of the head 28 ft. In Shropshire, at Willey Park, 16 yearsplanted, it is 30 ft. high. In Staffordshire, at Trentbam, 26 years planted, it is 35 ft. high ; at AltonTowers, 6 years planted, it is 20ft. high. In Suffolk, at Finborough Hall, 80 years planted, it is100 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 6 ft., and of the head 75 ft. In Yorkshire, at Grimston, 14years planted, it is 70 ft. high.

Pdpulus dlba in Scotland. In the environs of Edinburgh, at Hopetoun House, it is 30 ft. high;the diameter of the trunk 3ft. 10in., and of the head 30ft. In Haddingtonshire, at Tynningham,it is 58 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 3 in., and of the head 42 ft. In Roxburghshire, 70years planted, it has a dean trunk 50 ft. in height, averaging for that height 2 ft. in diameter, and