WYCH-ELM TIMBER. 59 



the usual time for the plants to stand in lines, for if 

 allowed to remain longer the roots are apt to get 

 bare, so that the plant when transplanted becomes 

 stunted. 



The tree grows rapidly, and will yield heavy 

 timber in a rich deep soil, preferring an open subsoil. 

 When lichen overspreads the bark, and its growth 

 becomes feeble, this result is often traced to water 

 stagnation near the surface. It grows slower than the 

 English elm, and usually attains a height of fifty feet,, 

 but is often found reaching a higher altitude when 

 interspersed with taller-growing trees. Its timber is 

 much in request for agricultural purposes where 

 strength and elasticity are required, such as naves, 

 shafts, rails and frames for carts and barrows, in 

 Scotland, and the tree is somewhat remarkable for 

 yielding large protuberances of gnarled wood, knotted 

 by an accumulation of growth, which are often highly 

 valued. Pruning can often be performed to advantage 

 with this tree, as, at from eight to fourteen years of age, 

 it is apt to ramify near the ground, and although this 

 sort of formation adorns the glen and mountain sides, 

 it forms a short trunk. This can be remedied by 

 shortening the competing shoots, and reducing the 

 strongest of the lateral branches with the pruning- 

 knife, by which means the bole will be lengthened, 

 and the desired shape insured. 



The Huntingdon Elm (U. s. vegetal) This genus 

 does not date back further than the middle of the 

 last century, but is a very fast-growing tree, and 

 valuable for timber. It is propagated by layers, but 

 oftener perhaps by grafting upon a stock of the 

 Wych elm. 



