The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1885-10-31
THE Lomskgpy POPLAR.
A Tree That Is Most Thoroughly Aain'reo
by Some and Despised by Others.

a Tree That Is Most iHoToushiy fHuanatSu
by Some and Despised by Others.
There is probably no tree more thor.
oughly admired and detested than the
Lombardy poplar. Most landscape
gardeners would be glad If the tree did
not exist, for while the artist may han
die il 10 advantage, the novice is apt to
make a bungling use Of it. Among
farmers the tree is popular; its rapid
growth and strongly marked upright
habit are attractive features
After much study of this tree in many
places, | am preparedt to take a position
between the extreme professional gar.
iener and the general planter. Iagree
with the gardener that it is by no
means a suitable tree for ordinary
| yards, or for continuous lines of shade
trees, to be stretched for miles along a
highway. 1t is not a tree for low
grounds or for ciumpsin level pastures.
In all these places it is too formal or
out of keeping. But on hills, especially
when seen from a distance, no tree is
more picturesque than this. 1t is a rule
worth remembering that high trees are
suitable for high places, and low trees
or bushes for low places. OF high trees
none give such an exaggerated idea OF
height as the Lombardy poplar. If
had a hill on my farm l should plant a
clump of these trees upon it. A few
Lombard:es near a long building serve
to relieve the monotony, while at the
same time their rigid and formal out
lines are in entire harmony with the
building. Wo all admire the pictures
of long Italian palaces which are plant
ed amid Lombardy poplars. If the
barn is on an eminence, plant five or
six of these trees beside it. A small
group of these trees in the distance be-
yond a water scene is also desirable to
give spirit to the level foreground, es.
pecially if the surrounding country is
level.
Landscape gardeners usually dis
courage the setting of trees in
rows. Such an arrangement is too
stiff, too much at variance with M
ture, and affords too little variety to
give the highest pleasure to the be-
holder. II trees must be set in rows,
however, | know of no better species
for the purpose than the Lombardy
poplar, provided the rows be not too
long. Being itself a formal object, it
appears to good advantage in formal
surroundings. Along a roadside, on
elevated ground, a row of Lombard,es
ten to twenty rods long is often desira-
BILE. 1t is always a temptation to plant
too many Lombardies. They should
not be planted everywhere or in great
abundance. Indeed, it is only when
they are introduced sparingly into a
scene that they are TO be tolerated.
Objects SO alike in appearance as are
the different individuals of Lombardy
poplars soon weary the eye if they are
seen in abundance. One or two trees
in a landscape are always better than a
hundred. One tree will often give
spirit to a whole landscape of low
headed trees. Their effect is always
best when they are seen from a distance.
The greatest hindrance to the planting
of Lo1nbardies, however, is the short
life of the tree. In the North, trees
often begin die when but fifteen tc
twenty years old, and l have seen very
few perfect specimens which had at.
tanned to fifty years. To botanists the
Lombardy poplar is known as Pop"lns
aHatata, "dilated %populus," in allusion
to the broadly triangular leaves. The
tree has been planted long in Lombardy
and Southern and Central Europe, but
its original home is probably in Persia
and the Himalayas. Il. Il. Bailey, T.,
IN Country Gentleman.