Agricultural.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 73, 2 December 1875, Page 7

Agricultural.

UTILITY OF THE POPLAR TREE.

A ..correspondent of the l Land and Writer ' writes as follows : — Let me call the attenton of landowners to the importance and value of the poplar tree as timber. As a proof of its importance and the demand for this class of timber it may be unnecessary to remark that there are a great many thousands of miles of railway in Great Britain, and that these railways employ an enormous ntnnber of carnages of different descriptions. All these carriages, or what is termed the rolling stock of railways, Tequire breaks. The blocks^ for these breaks are usually made from' poplar, willow, or alder,- but chiefly from poplar, and the consequence is, the demand for this class of timber is annually increasing. There are several kinds of poplar indigeneous to Britain, and other kinds have been introduced, chiefly from North America. Those indigeneous to Great Britain are the aspen, white poplar, black poplar, and gray poplar ; some of the more common kinds introduced from North America are the black Italian poplar, the Ontario poplar, and the balsam poplar. The aspen poplar is suited for planting in light loam sorts. The white poplar does best in damp situations. The Ontario poplar forms a very handsome tree. It corces early to flower and leaf •in this country, the latter being large, often 7in to Bin long. It is propagated from cuttings, is a fast grower in favorable situations, but does not do well in poor soils. The balsam poplar is not often planted with the view of making a profit out of it, although its timber is saleable for different purposes. The Mack Italian poplar is of all the poplars tho best for planting generally, with the purpose of rearing it for sale as timber. In this country it has often been cut down containing upwards of lOOfeet per tree, in special cases reaching to much larger dimensions. On soils favorable to its growth, this tree will realise a larger profit than any other forest tree ; it is a fast grower, and the quality of the timber is good, being tough both when in a green state and when dry. The soil best suited for its growth is a loam, and the situation must not be too much exposed. Sheltered hollows and valleys of woodlands are situations where it attains a great height and good profitable contents in a short time. I have planted black Italian poplar in Yorkshire, and sold them at twelve years old cut up into pit props. The timber of this tree is used for many more purposes, such as flooring, fencing, the making of laths for plasterings. In Kent and Surrey it is used as hop poles along with chestnut and ash. In Staffordshire it is employed while young for the making of crates, and in Scotland it is cut into staves for the making of herring barrels. Young plants suitable for planting can be got from nurserymen at from 30s to 35s per' 1000. The timber is of different values according to the size of the trees, prices at present ranging from Is to 2s per foot.