governess, "have we not the beautiful
elms, in which the birds build their nests and where they fly in and out
continually? They are the very same birds that build in the
Lombardy poplars."

"I thought that singing-birds always lived in cages," said the little
queen in the easy-chair.

"And did you think they were hung all over the Lombardy poplars?" asked
Malcolm, in a broad grin.

Edith laughed too, and Miss Harson said smilingly.

"I thought that the birds about Elmridge did a great deal of singing,
and the blue-birds and robins kept it up all day. But I should not like
to see the old Lombardy poplars hung with gilded cages, and the birds
which should happen to be prisoners in the cages would like it
still less."

"Well," said Edith, contentedly, as she settled herself again to
listen.

"The poplar," continued Miss Harson, "has a great many insect enemies,
and the Lombardy is not often seen now, because a great many of these
trees were destroyed on account of a worm, or caterpillar, by which they
were infested. Poplar-wood is soft, light and generally of a pale-yellow
color; it is much used for toy-making and for boarded floors, 'for which
last purpose it is well adapted from its whiteness and the facility with
which it is scoured, and also from the difficulty with which it catches
fire and the slowness with which it burns. A red-hot poker falling on a
board of poplar would burn its way without causing more combustion than
the hole through which it passed.'"

"I should think, then," said Malcolm, "that all wooden things would be
made of poplar."

"It is generally thought not to be durable," was the reply, "but it is
said that if kept dry the wood will last as long as that of any tree.
Says the poplar plank,

"'Though heart of oak be ne'er so stout,
Keep me dry and I'll see him out.'

"The poplar has been highly praised, for every part of this tree answers
some good purpose. The bark, being light, like cork, serves to support
the nets of fishermen; the inner bark is used by the Kamschadales as a
material for bread; brooms are made from the twigs, and paper from the
cottony down of the seeds. Horses, cows and sheep browse upon it.

"And now," said Miss Harson, when the children were wondering if that
were the end, "we have come to the most interesting tree of the whole
species--the aspen, or trembling poplar. It is a small, graceful tree
with rounded leaves having a wavy, toothed border, covere