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Show Director Appeals For Opinions On Populars By Director Williiam Peterson VSAC Extension Service Early in the settlement of Utah some one with an artistic taste and a love for trees was influencial in the planting of lombardy populars. Some of these trees have decorated almot eveiy farmstead in the utate and many of the city lots witLn, the towns. One author in his visit to Utah more than 30 years ago stated that no more beautiful scene could be found out of doors than that cf a Utah farmstead with Its high rugged rug-ged mountain background, wUl placed buildings, and towering lombardy lom-bardy populars reaching above the common vegetation and pointing their tops toward the heavenly blue sky. It 3'iems to be a common admiration admira-tion for the people who visit Utah only occasionally, to speak of the beauty which the lombardy popular has odd-d to the farmstead in ihu mountain valleys. That b3auty still remains. Th. life cf the tree however, is only from 3 to 40 years. Many of the trees have already reached, in age, their expected! normal life. The Ires are dying, srim from dis'ase or drouth but 'most of them, because they have lived their r gular life cycle. It i." th? exception to find a row cf lombardy populars today I hat do"s not show "stag top" as shown in tho accompanying cut) in which a part cf the top of the tree has died, it has grown ragged and is disintegrated. Becauss thier.te trees havr. lived their life cycle the article beauty of tree planting in the state is facing a dilernia. Very few of thrse trdes have been plant d in recent years and if the same procedure should continue for al.blher two decades de-cades very few lombardy populars will remain. I do not believe there are many citizens in Utah who would like to see this tree eliminated. They have besin topped, "dutch" cropped, and nanrd in every conceivable fashion to allow space for electric wires, etc. But the lombardy popular with its high towering beauty still commiands a place in the Utah landscape. The tree is net especially valuable for its timber, but it has made Utah distinctive. This species is threatened threaten-ed with elimination unless new plantings of lombardy populars are made. Do we want this tree to continue? con-tinue? It is hoped that the people of Utah will make some expression of opinion. |