1654

ARBORETUM and fruticetum.

PART 111,

The bark of the old trunk, being very thick, light, and corky, is employed byfishermen to support their nets, and, it is said, is used as corks for bottles.The buds, macerated in boiling water, and afterwards bruised in a mortarand pressed, yield a fat substance, which burns like wax, and exhales a fineodour. The balsamic sap with which the buds are covered forms the basis ofwhat Gerard calls that “profitable ointment, unguentum populeum, which is usedas a soothing remedy against nervous diseases and hemeroides.” The youngshoots, especially when the plants are kept low, may be used as a substitutefor those of the willow, in basket-making. When the tree is pollarded, andlopped every three or four years, it produces a great quantity of fuel, whichcan be used green. The shoots, with the leaves on, are formed into brooms.The cottony substance, or flock, which surrounds the seeds, has been used,in Germany and in France, as wadding; and it has also been manufacturedinto cloth, hats, and paper; but the expense of collecting it, and the wantof length and elasticity in the fibre, occasioned the manufacture to he givenup. In Kamtschatka, and in Norway, the inhabitants are sometimes underthe necessity of drying the inner bark, and grinding it, in order to mix itwith their oatmeal. (See Laing’s Norway.) The flowers are much soughtafter by bees. In landscape-gardening, the tree is valuable for particularpurposes, on account of the rapidity of its growth, the great bulk of its head,and the striking effect of its dark red flowers, in early spring; but it is unfitfor grounds which are not of considerable extent, unless when treated as apollard or dwarf.

Poetical and mythological Allusions. According to Ovid, when Phaethonborrowed the chariot and horses of the sun, and by his heedless driving sethalf the world on fire, he was hurled from the chariot by Jupiter into the Po,where he was drowned ; and his sisters, the Heliades, wandering on the banksof the river, were changed into trees; but, whether these trees were poplarsor alders, the poets do not seem to be agreed. The evidence in favour of thepoplar consists in there being abundance of black poplars on the banks ofthe Po; in the poplar, in common with many other aquatic trees, beingso surcharged with moisture as to have it exude through the pores of theleaves, which may thus literally be said to weep; and in there being notree on which the sun shines more brightly than on the black poplar, thusstill showing gleams of parental affection to the only memorial left of theunhappy son whom his fondness had contributed to destroy.

“ And eke those trees, in whose transformed hue,

The Sun’s sad daughters wailed the rash decayOf Phaethon, whose limbs with lightnings rent,

They gathering up, with sweet tears did lament.” Spenser,

The quivering of the leaves of the black poplar, and the manner in whichthe sun dances on their smooth surfaces, have made them afford to thepoets joyous images, of activity and beauty. Homer, speaking of Penelope’shandmaids, says : —

** Some ply the loom; their busy fingers moveLike poplar leaves when zephyr fans the grove.” Pope’s Odyssey, book vii.

And a Spanish poet compares the tree to his lady’s hair: —

“ Each wind that breathes, gallantly here and thereWaves the fine gold of her disorder’d hair,

As a green poplar leaf in wanton play

Dances for joy at rosy break of day.” Wiffen’s Garcilasso.

Soil, Situation, S,c. For the tree to attain a large size, the soil ought to begood, though it need not be deep; more especially if it be in the immediatevicinity of water. In such situations, the black poplar forms a very profitablepollard tree; and it is often so planted and treated in France and Italy, forthe purpose of affording props for vines. It is readily propagated by cuttingsor truncheons.

Insects, Diseases, <jr. The black poplar is famous among naturalists for