EUROPEAN OR FIELD ELM. 4S5 



well broken, as to render it one of the noblest of park trees ; and, when it grows 

 wildly amid the rocky scenery of its native Scotland, there is no tree, which 

 assumes so great or so pleasing a variety of character."* "The Scotch elm,'' 

 Sang observes, " accommodates itself, both in a natural state and when planted, 

 to many different soils and situations. The soil, in which it most luxuriates, is 

 a deep, rich loam; but that in which it becomes most valuable, is a sandy loam, 

 lying on rubble stone, or on dry rock. It is frequently found flourishing by the 

 sides of rivers or streams, which sometimes wash part of its roots ; yet it will not 

 endure stagnant moisture." "In a mixture of loam and clay schistus, incum- 

 bent on whinstone rock, as at Alva," continues he, "it arrives at a large size 

 within a century." The most ready mode of propagating this tree is from 

 seeds, which are produced in great abundance, and are ripe in Britain about 

 the middle of June. They should be gathered by hand before they drop, as from 

 their lightness and winged appendages, they are very apt to be blown away by 

 the wind. They may either be sown as soon as gathered, in which case, many 

 plants will come up the same season; or they may be thinly spread out to dry in 

 the shade, and afterwards put up into bags or boxes, and kept in a cool, dry 

 place, till the March or April following. Sang directs the seeds to be chosen 

 from the tallest, most erect, and healthy trees; on the sound principle, that 

 plants, like animals, convey to their progeny their general appearance, whether 

 good or bad. Trees, therefore, though having an abundance of seeds, if they be 

 either visibly diseased, or ill-formed, should be passed over by the collector. 

 When sown, the seeds of this tree, and those of all its sub-varieties, ought to be 

 deposited in light or friable rich soil, and very thinly covered, in order that the 

 plants, that rise from them, may be strong and vigorous. The best form in which 

 the seeds can be sown is in beds ; and the covering of soil should not exceed half of 

 an inch in depth. The plants may be removed into nursery lines, at the age of 

 one or two years ; or they may be grafted in the following spring. If not intended 

 to be grafted, they may go through a regular course of nursery culture, till they 

 have acquired the desired height for final transplanting, which should not exceed 

 twenty or twenty-five feet. This variety, like the Ulmus campestris, may also 

 be increased by layers, by cuttings from the roots, and by inoculation. 



27. U. c. MONTANA RUGOSA. Crumpled-barked Moimta'm Field Elm ; Ubrrns 

 m. )'ugosa, of Loudon ; a tree of spreading growth, and moderate size, with red- 

 dish-brown bark, which cracks into short, regular pieces, similar to that of the 

 Acer campestre. 



28. U. c. MONTANA MAJOR. Larger Motmtain Field Ebii ; Ulmus m. major, of 

 Loudon ; a tree of upright, rapid growth, with but few branches ; and, in some 

 stages, approaching the habit of the common Scotch elm, but of a more tapering 

 form. Its leaves fall almost a month earlier than those of most of the allied 

 races. 



29. U. c. MONTANA MINOR. Smaller Mountain Field Elm ; Ulmus muinin or, oi 

 Loudon. This tree, as compared with the preceding, is of a more branching aujl 

 spreading habit, and of lower growth, with more twiggy shoots, which are more 

 densely clothed with leaves. 



30. U. c. MONTANA CEBENNENsis. Cevemies Elm; Uhmis m. ccbenncnsis, of 

 Loudon. The habit of this tree is somewhat like that of the Ulmus c. montana ; 

 but it appears to be of much less rapid growth. 



31. U. c. MONTANA NIGRA. Bldck-barked Moimiain Field Ehn ; Ulmus m. 

 nigra, of Loudon ; Irish Black Elm, of the English ; a spreading tree, with the 

 habit of the Ulmus c. montana, but with much smaller leaves. 



.32. IT. c. MONTANA AUSTRALis, Soutliem Mountain Field Elm ; Ulmus m. aus- 



* Lauder's Gilpin, 1., p. 91. 



