272 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



from the ground, measures seventeen feet two inches in cir- 

 cumference, and the other sixteen feet ten inches at three feet. 



Several trees in Brookliue, which were planted in 1805, 

 when they might have been ten years old, are now eighty feet 

 high, and average from eight feet to eight feet six inches in 

 circumference at three feet from the ground. It would, from 

 these examples, seem that the European elm not only grows 

 rapidly in the eastern part of the State, but promises to 

 attain its largest dimensions and full span of life. I have 

 been unable to compare satisfactorily the rapidity of its growth 

 with that of the American elm, but probably in its best con- 

 dition the latter is of far more rapid growth, although in the 

 ordinary situations where the elm is planted, and where it 

 generally suffers from insufficiency of root-moisture, the 

 European elm is immeasurably its superior in rapidity of 

 growth, length of life, and general thriftiness. The fact that 

 the European is fully a month longer in leaf than the Ameri- 

 can elm, that its tougher leaves would seem to offer a less 

 appetizing food to the canker-worm, the greatest enemy of 

 the American elm in New England, and its adaptability to all 

 situations, are strong arguments in favor of giving the prefer- 

 ence to the former for general cultivation. 



Its thriftiness in smoky situations, makes the European 

 elm the most valuable tree our climate will allow for city 

 street and square planting, and as a shade-tree by roadsides, 

 no American tree is its equal. 



The economic value of the wood of the European, which is 

 hard and fine, has always been generally acknowledged to be 

 superior to that of the American elm, and in Europe it is 

 devoted to many important uses. For the hubs of carriage- 

 wheels, it is used almost to the exclusion of all other wood. If 

 employed in situations where it is constantly under water, 

 or kept perfectly dry, it excels almost every other wood in 

 durability. It is considered the best timber for ships' keels. 

 It is largely used for ships' blocks, and for pumps, piles and 

 water-pipes, and by the turner and cabinet-maker, and by the 

 coffin-maker it is preferred to all other woods. The general 

 cultivation of the European elm would add a valuable timber- 

 tree to the products of Massachusetts. 



As timber-trees, some of the willows deserve more atten- 



