EUKOPEAN OR FIELD ELM, 



497 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the Ulmus campestris is of a brownish 

 colour, and is hard and fine-grained. When green, it weighs nearly seventy 

 pounds to a cubic foot, and when dry, not more tlian forty-eight and a half 

 pounds. It possesses greater lateral adhesion, but less longitudinal toughness 

 than that of the Scotch elm, (Ulmus c. montana.) and, consequently, does not 

 crack so much as that variety in drying. In ship-building, it is valuable for 

 forming the blocks and dead-eyes, and other wooden fixtures of rigging, being 

 particularly suitable for these purposes, from its hard and adhesive nature, and 

 indisposition to crack or split, when exposed to the vicissitudes of moisture and 

 dryness. One of the principal uses of the English elm, however, in ship-build- 

 ing, is for keels. In Norfolk, the timber of this tree is generally used for naves 

 to wheels; and in many parts of England, and particularly about London, it is 

 also employed for coffins. Elm timber is also remarkably durable in water, and 

 is particularly adapted for piles, pumps, water-pipes, and for any other similai 

 purpose. It has been used in Europe, from time innncmorial, for water-pipes, or 

 gutters, for conveying the water of salt springs to the large boxes or pans, where 

 the watery particles are evaporated by the heat of the sun, or by fire; and it is 

 well known that the Anglo-Saxons called all the places where there were salt 

 springs, "wich" or " wych " (as Droitwich, Nantwich, &c.); hence, probably, 

 originated the name " wych elm," which was formerly applied to all British elms, 

 including the Ulmus c. montana. The knobs, which grow upon old elms, are 

 sawn into thin plates by cabinet-makers, particularly in France and Germany ; 

 and, when polished, they exhibit very curious and beautiful arrangements of 

 fibre, which render their wood exceedingly ornamental, for articles of fancy. As 

 fuel, the wood of the elm, according to Hartig, is to that of beech as twelve hun- 

 dred and fifty-nine is to fifteen hundred and forty ; and, as charcoal, as fourteen 

 Hundred and seven is to sixteen hundred. The ashes of this tree are rich in 

 alkaline salts; and among seventy-three kinds of trees, M. Werneck found that 

 it occupied the tenth place in productiveness of potash. The inner bark, like 

 that of the European lime-tree, is sometimes employed for making bast-mats and 

 ropes. Young deer are very fond of this bark; and in Norway the inhabitants 

 kiln-dry it, and grind it with corn to make flour for bread. The leaves and 

 young shoots of the elm were used by the Romans to feed cattle, and they are 

 still employed, in may parts of France, for the same purpose ; and both in France 

 and Norway, they are boiled to serve as food for pigs. In Russia, the leaves of 

 the Ulmus c. parvifolia are used for tea. The bark is highly astringent, and both 

 the leaves and bark, it is said, contain a considerable proportion of glue. From 

 the bark there has been extracted a principle called vlmine, which is regarded by 

 some as a constituent of every vegetable. A decoction of the bark imparts a 

 yellow colour to wool. In Norway, the bark is employed in tanning skins. The 

 fruit, in a green state, is sometimes eaten as a salad. 



As a picturesque tree, " the elm," observes Gilpin, " has not so distinct a char- 

 acter as either the oak or the ash. It partakes so much of the oak, that, when it 

 is rough and old, it may easily, at a little distance, be mistaken for one; though 

 the oak, (I mean such an oak as is strongly marked with its peculiar character,) 

 can never be mistaken for the elm. This is certainly a defect in the elm; for 

 strong characters are a great source of picturesque beauty. This defect, how- 

 ever, appears chiefly in the skeleton of the elm; in full foliage, its character is 

 more marked. No tree is better adapted to receive grand masses of light. In 

 this respect, it is superior both to the oak and the ash. Nor is its foliage, shad- 

 owing as it is, of the heavy kind. Its leaves are small, and this gives it a natural 

 lightness; it commonly hangs loosely, and is, in general, very picturesque. The 

 elm naturally grows upright, and, when it meets with a soil it loves, rises higher 

 than the generality of trees; and, after it has assumed the dignity and hoary 

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