CHAP. CI. r/LMA^CEii;. ^/LMUS. 1.S85 



commonly found decayed at the heart ; and this is very generally the case, 

 even when the exterior circumference of the trunk is in a healthy and 

 vigorous state, and prolific of branches. The most profitable age for felling 

 the elm is between 70 and 80 years ; and, if the trunk is disbarked a year 

 before it is cut down, the w-ood will be more thoroughly seasoned. 



Accidents, Diseases, and Insects. The elm is not a brittle tree ; and, from the 

 straightness and strength of its trunk in proportion to its head, it is not liable to 

 be injured by high winds. It is, however, subject to many diseases ; and is 

 very liable to be attacked by insects. The principal disease with which it is 

 assailed is, a species of ulceration, "which appears on the body of the tree, at 

 the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft. from the ground, and which discharges a great quantity 

 of sap. The disease penetrates gradually into the interior of the tree, and 

 corrupts its substance. Many attempts have been made to cure it in the be- 

 ginning, or to arrest its progress, but hitherto without success. The best 

 treatment is to pierce the tree to the depth of 2 in. or .3. in. with an auger, in 

 the very heart of the malady, which is declared by the flowing of the sap." 

 {Mirhx.) The matter discharged by this ulcer has been analysed by M. 

 Vaufjuelin, and found to contain 0'340 parts of carbonate and sulphate of 

 potash; 0"0ol of carbonate of lime ; and I'OO^ parts of carbonate of magnesia, 

 (il/rw. de rinstifid, tom. ii.) The mode of treatment recommended in the Xou- 

 veau Cows d\lgricnlture is, to pierce the ulcer, as above advised by Michaux, 

 and then to dress the wound with powdered charcoal, or a mixture of cow-dung 

 and clay. Elms, when in a soil which does not suit them (viz. when it is either 

 excessively wet, or excessively dry), are very subject to a disease called carci- 

 noma. " An unusual deposit of cambium takes place between the wood and 

 the bark : no new wood is formed, but, instead of it, the cambium becomes 

 putrid, and oozes out through the bark, which thus separates from the albumen." 

 {Lindl. Introd. to Bot., p. 298.) This disease shows itself by the extravasated 

 cambium forming long black streaks down the bark, and by its sweetness 

 attracting numerous insects, of several tribes, to prey upon it. Mr. Spence 

 thinks that this disease is very probably caused by the scolyti. " I have 

 f^een," he says, "many elms pierced by these insects, where the extravasated 

 cambium partly oozed out in white masses like gum or manna, and partly 

 formed long black streaks down the bark (as described above), and numerous 

 insects were attracted to feed on it." 



Many kinds of insects attack the elm. One of these, a species of Haltica 

 (vulgarly called the elm flea, from its habit of leaping), devours the leaves, 

 but is said not to do any serious injury to the tree. (8ee Ent. Mag., i. p. 4-27.) 

 It is a beautiful little insect, covered with a brilliant cuirass of green and 

 gold, and having the thighs of its hinder legs so large as to appear almost 

 round. These insects are so lively, and so quick in their movements, that, 

 though a branch may appear covered with them one moment, the next they 

 have all vanished. The larvae are small and slender, and devour rhe leaves 

 equally with the perfect insect. (See Diet. Classique d'Hist. Xat., art. 

 Altise ; and Xouv. Cours d\4gnc., tom. i. p. 256.) In the Dictionnaire dcs 

 Eau.v et Forefs, and in the Xouveau Du Hamel, it is mentioned that galls, 

 or small bladders, are produced on the leaves of the elm, by the puncture of 

 some kind of insect (probably some species of Cjnips}, whicii are first green, 

 but afterwards turn black. These galls each contain some drops of a liquiti, 

 which is called, according to Du Hamel, elm balm, and was formerly em- 

 ployed for the cure of recent wounds. In the Xouvcau Corns d' Agricult?ire, 

 four insects tiiat feeil on the elm are mentioned. Tiie first is the common 

 caterpillar ^ombyx chrysorrhoe^ai^f/i., which destroys the leaf buds and leaves 

 entirely, so as to give the tree, in spring, the appearance of winter. The second 

 is the galeruque de I'orme (Galeruca ulmariensis Fab.), a coleopterous insect, 

 the larvcE of which, in some seasons, entirely destroy the leaves of the elm trees 

 in the public promenades both in England and on the Continent. Mr. Spence 

 mentions that, visiting the boulevards at Rouen, in the summer of 1836, he 

 found the larvae of this insect had so completely destroyed the leaves of the 



