THE ROCK ELM. 271 



the American standard, is eighty-four per cent its superior. 

 The amount of ash left after wild cherry is burned is re- 

 markably small, being only eighteen hundredths of one per 

 cent of the weight of the dry wood consumed. 



The facility with which young plants of this tree are 

 raised from seed, the ease with which they may be trans- 

 planted, their hardiness, rapid growth, and power to resist 

 rough usage, render the wild cherry a valuable subject for 

 forest-planting on a large scale ; while the great and increas- 

 ing demand for the wood insures a certain and profitable 

 sale for all that can be raised. 



In many portions of New England the wild cherry can be 

 successfully cultivated, and, wherever the soil is moderately 

 deep and rich, it will be a safe and profitable tree to plant. 



In the Middle and Western States it will, I think, be 

 found one of the most satisfactory and useful timber-trees 

 that can be employed in forest-planting, and, although not 

 a native of the States beyond the Mississippi, its great 

 hardiness and adaptability to various soils lead me to hope 

 that the wild cherry will succeed in the treeless regions of 

 Kansas and Nebraska as well as the less valuable trees 

 which have generally been planted there. 



The fact that the wild cherry is the favorite home of the 

 American tent caterpillar, which preys on its foliage, and, 

 unchecked, finally injures its growth, is the one serious 

 drawback to this tree. Great as this objection is, it will 

 disappear before energy and concerted action. 



The American Cork, or Western Rock Elm (^JJlmus 

 racemosa, Thomas). 



This tree is found growing with the common Ameri- 

 can elm, and in situations similar to those selected by that 

 tree, from the south-western county of Vermont, westward 

 to Illinois, and from the Ohio northward into Canada. 

 It is common in New York, along the banks of the IMohawk 

 and its tributaries, and in Yates County, near Penn Yan, and 

 occurs in many parts of Ohio and Illinois : but it is in the 

 southern peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Province 

 of Ontario, that the rock elm is most frequently met with. 

 This species will be readily distinguished by the disposition 

 of the flowers, which, unlike those of other elms, are borne 



