510 ULMUS AMERICANA. 



THE GREAT ELM AT JOHNSTOWN. 



At .lolinslowii, near Providence, in Rhode Island, there is an American elm, 

 with a trnulv twenty-fonr feet and three inches in circninl'croncc at two feet above 

 the gronnd, twenty-one feet and eight inches at a yard above, and holds nearly 

 the same size for twelve feet. The trnnk divides into eight main branches, 

 wiiich extend themselves into a broad, spreading summit. 



THE WASHINGTON ELM. 



In the city of Cambridge, in Massachusetts, there stands, in the vicinity of 

 Harvard University, a beautiful elm, named after General Washington, which 

 has a trunk thirteen feet and three inches in circumference, and is estimated to 

 be one hundred and thirty years of age. It is said that the " celebrated Whit- 

 field, when excluded from the pulpits of the town and college, preached under the 

 shade of this tree in the summer of 1711* 



Soil, Propafrailon, i^c. The Ulmus americana delights in low and humid 

 situations, such as the rich bottoms or interval lands along the banks of rivers 

 and streams, or on the borders of swamps, where the soil is deep and fertile. It 

 will grow, however, on any soil that is not too dry and barren, and in any situ- 

 tion within its natural limits, how mnch soever exposed. The propagation and 

 management of this species, and those of the European elm, are nearly the same, 

 and consequently need not be repeated heie. 



Accidents, Insects, ^c. The American elm is subject to but few diseases, and 

 is not very liable to accidents, except in being sometimes prostrated by violent 

 winds. But, unfortunately, the foliage of this noble tree serves as food for sev- 

 eral kinds of insects, or their larvae, while its bark and wood are pierced by 

 others for the purpose of making provision for their young. Among the latter 

 class may be mentioned the pigeon tremex, (Tremex columba,) which pierces 

 the tree half an inch or more in depth, wherein she deposits her eggs. The 

 body of the female is described, by Dr. Harris, as "cylindrical, about as thick as 

 a common lead-pencil, and an inch and a half, or more, in length, exclusive of 

 the borer, which is an inch long, and projects three-eighths of an inch beyond 

 the end of the body. The latter rounds upwards, like the stem of a boat, and is 

 armed with a point, or short horn. The head and the thorax, are rust-coloured, 

 varied with black. The abdomen, or hinder and longest part of the body, is 

 black, with seven ochre-yellow bands across the back, all of them but the first 

 two interrupted in the middle. .The horned tail, and a round spot before it, im- 

 pressed as if with a seal, are ochre-yellow. The antennaj are rather short and 

 blunt, rust-coloured, with a broad, black ring in the middle. The wings expand 

 two inches and a quarter, or more ; they are smoky-brown, and semi-transparent. 

 The legs are ochre-yellow, with blackish thighs. The borer, awl, or needle, is 

 as thick as a bristle, spear-pointed at the end, and of a black colour ; it is con- 

 cealed, when not in use, between two narrow, rust-colored side-pieces, forming a 

 kind of scabbard to it." The male, continues the same author, "is extremely 

 unlike the female, in colour, form and size, and is not furnished with the remarka- 

 ble borer of the other sex. He is rust-coloured variegated with black. His 

 antennae are rust-yellow, or blackish. His wings are smoky, but clearer than 

 those of the female. His hind-body is somewhat flattened, rather widest behind, 

 and ends with a conical horn. His hind-legs are flattened, much wider than 

 those of the female, and of a blackish colour; the other legs are rust-coloured, 



* North American Review. 



