16 FEBRUARY 1929, Page 15

THE CONVERSION OF TIPS.

On the subject of afforestation and Aberdare and the valuable experiments made a generation ago to clothe the barren and ugly coal tips, I find that by far the most useful of all trees for starting growth on this unpromising ground was found to be the black poplar. The first Lord Aberdare made many experiments with several varieties of conifer in the first instance. All these failed ; but he succeeded within a -very short time in covering certain tips with black poplar and an undergrowth of furze and broom. When once a start- is made and humus begins to form other trees and -plants will flourish ; but the pioneer; the first successful colonizer at Aberdare was that rapid grower, the black poplar.

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