Chap. 7. 



BOTANY OF VERMONT 



215 



THE SLIPPERY ELM. 



THE BUTTERNUT. — THE HICKORY, 



THE NORWAY PINE. 



water and rendered snpple by pounding-, 

 was formerly much used for bottoming 

 common chairs. For fuel, the elm is in- 

 ferior to several other kinds of wood, but 

 its ashes are strongly impregnated with 

 alkali, and no wood yields a greater quan- 

 tity. The young of the elm is much ad- 

 mired, and much employed as a shade 

 tree around our yards and dwellings, and 

 seems to be preferable to the locust, inas- 

 much as it thrives in all parts of the 

 state, and is not, like the locust, liable to 

 be destroyed by the Borer. 



RED, OR SLIPPERY ELM. 



Uimus fulva. 

 This tree, though found in most parts 

 of the state, is less abundant than the pre- 

 ceding species, and of less magnitude, sel- 

 dom exceeding 60 feet in height, with a 

 diameter of 2 feet. The wood is of a red- 

 dish color, and is less compact than that 

 of the white elm. It makes e.xcellent and 

 durable rails, into which ii is easily split, 

 but this last property renders it unsuita- 

 ble for the naves of wheels. It is, how- 

 ever, said to answer a good purpose for 

 the blocks of pullies. The inner bark of 

 this tree is an important article oi materia 

 inedica. Macerated in water it yields 

 a thick and abundant mucilage, which 

 makes a refreshing drink much used in 

 colds, coughs and fevers. The bark, 

 when dried and reduced to flour, is said 

 to make excellent puddings. 



BUTTERNUT. 



JugJans cinerca. 

 The Butternut is common in most parts 

 of the state, and is known in some places 

 by the name of Oil-nut, which it derives 

 from the oily nature of its fruit. It 

 thrives best on a dark cold soil, and often 

 measures three or four feet in diameter, 

 although it seldom exceeds 6U feet in 

 height. The roots of the Butternut us- 

 ually e.xtend horizontall}', with little vari- 

 ation in size, and but a few inches below 

 the surface of the ground, often to the 

 distance of 30 feet or more, which makes 

 it a troublesome tree, when growing upon 

 or adjacent to lands designed for tillage. 

 The wood of this tree is light, and of a 

 reddish color, and, though it has little 

 strength, it possesses, in a good degree, 

 the property of durability The timber is 

 little used for frames of buildings, but is 



sometimes sawed into boards and clap- 

 boards. It is also used for posts in 

 fences, for corn shovels, wooden dishes, 

 troughs for catching the sap of the sugar 

 maple, and for panels for coaches and 

 chaises. For all these purposes it an- 

 swers well, as it is not liable to split, and 

 receives paint in a superior manner. The 

 extract of the bark of this tree is used for 

 a cathartic. Its operation is said to be 

 sure, and unattended, in the most delicate 

 constitutions, with pain or irritation. 



SHELLBARK HICKORY. 



C'/inja squamosa. 

 This tree, though no where greatly 

 multiplied, is by no nieaus uncommon 

 particularly in the neighborhood of lake 

 Champlain. It is usually found on moist 

 lands, and often about swamps and in pla- 

 ces which are liable to be inundated iu 

 high water. The wood possesses the 

 characteristic properties of the hickories 

 generally, being very clastic and tena- 

 cious. It also possesses their common 

 defect of soon decaying and being very 

 liable to be eaten by worms. The wood 

 is straight grained and easily split, and 

 being also easily wrought when trreen ia 

 made into ax handles and vvjiip handles 

 which are much esteemed on account of 

 their smoothnessjsuppleness and streno-th. 



THE NORWAY PINE. 



Pinus resinosa. 

 The Norway Pine, though originally 

 plentiful in some,places in Vermont, waa 

 never so abundant as the following spe- 

 cies, and, though a large and lofty tree, does 

 not equal the white pine in size and height, 

 seldom exceeding ?> feet in diameter or 

 80 feet in height. This tree is often call- 

 ed Ilcd Pin: and sometimes Yilluiv Pino 

 from the color of its bark. The wood is 

 fine-grained, compact, and on account ot 

 the resin it contains much heavier than 

 tliat of tile white pine, and for many pur- 



