U LM 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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775 



roots. In these beds they are commonly left two years, by 

 which time, those that will live (for a great many of them 

 generally die) will be rooted, and may then be transplanted 

 into the nursery, and treated as has been directed for layers. 

 In order to raise this tree from seed, gather the seeds at the 

 beginning of June, and spread them for a few days in a dry 

 place. Mark out beds four feet wide ; with alleys between 

 them, a foot and half or two feet broad. Sow the seeds 

 thinly over the beds, and cover them with mould half an 

 inch thick. Hoop the beds in order to cover them with 

 mats in hot weather, when they must also be sometimes 

 refreshed with water. In about a month many of the young 

 plants will appear, and the rest in the following spring. 

 Uncover the mats in cloudy or showery weather, and take 

 them wholly away at the end of August, that the plants may 

 be hardened against winter. In October, or the following 

 spring, the plants may be taken out of the seed-bed, and 

 planted in a nursery in rows three feet asunder, and each 

 plant at eighteen inches' distance, there to remain, with the 

 usual care of digging and hoeing, till finally planted out, 

 which may be done at almost any age. especially if removed 

 every two or three years. All sorts of Elms may be increas- 

 ed by grafting on the Broad-leaved Wych Elm. These may 

 also be raised from seed, and will be of a proper size to 

 receive the graft when they have been two or three years in 

 the nursery. The beginning of March is the best time for 

 the work ; and they are to be grafted only two inches above 

 the root, so that the clay may be wholly covered to guard 

 against frost. This is supposed to be a valuable improve- 

 ment of the English Elm, which will thus arrive at timber 

 many years sooner than trees raised by layers, and grow to a 

 greater size. An error prevails respecting the Elm, that it 

 will not flourish in close plantations : whereas how often do 

 we see two of these trees standing close together, both 

 equally well stemmed? indeed the shoots of the Elm will 

 interweave with each other, in a manner we seldom see 

 in any other sort of tree. But although we see them thrive 

 abundantly in groups and close groves, it must be remarked 

 that their stems, then running up clean, and in a great 

 measure free from side-shoots, render the timber different 

 from that which is raised in more exposed situations, where 

 the lateral shoots being numerous, and lopped off from time 

 to time, the stems become knotty, by which means the na- 

 tural tenacity, in which the peculiar excellence of this wood 

 consists, is considerably increased. The time for felling Elm 

 is from November to February. 



2. Ulmus Suberosa; Cork-barked Elm. Leaves doubly ser- 

 rate, somewhat unequal at the base ; flowers subsessile, con- 

 glomerate, four-stamined; fruits smooth; bark of the branch- 

 lets corky, winged. This species was imported from Holland 

 at the beginningof the reign of King William III. and is prin- 

 cipally remarkable for its rapid growth, and rough fungous 

 bark. The wood is of a very inferior quality. Native of many 

 parts of Europe, in woods, and about villages, flowering in 

 March. 



3. Ulmus Montana ; Broad-leaved Elm, or Wych Hazel. 

 Leaves doubly-serrate, acuminate, unequal at the base; 

 flowers peduncled, diffused. The trunk divides into long, 

 wide, spreading, winged branches, which are very brittle. 

 The bark on the outside is blacker than that of the first 

 species, and is very tough, so that when there is plenty of 

 sap it will strip or peel from the wood of the boughs, from 

 the one end to the other, a dozen feet or more in length, with- 

 out breaking. The timber is of the same colour as the com- 

 mon Elm, but is not so firm or strong for naves, though it 

 cleaves more easily. This has, in general, the most pictu- 



VOL. ii. 130. 



resque appearance, because it hangs more negligently, though 

 at the same time it loses, in a good degree, that happy sur- 

 face for catching masses of light, which we admire in the 

 common sort. A tree of this species, which was felled in 

 Sir Walter Bagot's park, in Staffordshire, was forty yards in 

 height, seventeen feet diameter at the stool, and yielded 

 eight pair of naves, and eight thousand six hundred and 

 sixty feet of boards and planks. This tree was formerly 

 much used for bows. Though called, in the Statutes, Witch 

 Hasell, it is very distinct from that so called in Essex, which 

 is the Carpinus. This appears to be the most common spe- 

 cies throughout Europe: it is frequent in woods and hedges 

 in Britain, flowering in March or April. It is sometimes 

 raised from seed, which it produces in great plenty : they 

 ripen in May, and should be sown upon a bed of fresh loamy 

 earth, and gently covered. In dry weather they require 

 watering, and the bed should be shaded from the violent heat 

 of the sun. When the plants appear, clean them carefully 

 from weeds, and after they have stood two or three years in 

 the seed-bed, they will be fit to be transplanted out into the 

 nursery, and there managed like the first species. 



4. Ulmus Americana; American Elm. Leaves acutely 

 serrate, unequal at the base; flowers on longish stalks; fruit 

 ovate, deeply cloven, densely fringed. There are several 

 varieties of this species ; as the Red or Canada Elm, whieh 

 in its native country grows to a vast size, and has its name 

 from the red colour of its branches. The White Elm, so 

 named from the whiteness of its branches: boats are 

 made from the bark of this tree. The Drooping or Weep- 

 ing Elm, is distinguished by its oblong smoothish leaves, 

 and pendent branches Native of the forests of Virginia, 

 and other parts of North America, where it is known by 

 the name of White Elm. These sorts produce plenty of 

 seeds in their native country, but they seldom arrive fresh : 

 the readiest way therefore to propagate them here is from 

 layers. They may be grafted on English Wych and Dutch 

 Stocks. See the first and third species, for further directions. 



5. Ulmus Nemoralis ; Hornbeam-leaved Elm. Leaves ob- 

 long, smoothish, equally serrate, almost equal at the base; 

 flowers sessile. A tall and handsome tree, with a white 

 brittle wood. Native of North America. 



6. Ulmus Pumila ; Dwarf Elm. Leaves equally serrate, 

 equal at the base. A bushy shrub, with shining, veiny, 

 neatly serrated leaves. In the southern parts of Russia this 

 equals the Oak in stature. The timber is very hard, tough, 

 and gray, remarkably waved with transverse lines of a deeper 

 colour, larger-fibred, and when exposed to the air becomes 

 yellower than Oak, to which it is preferred. The root is 

 beautifully variegated, and fit for the use of the turner. A 

 variety of this species is common with both young and old 

 branches winged, and rendered irregular with compressed 

 fungous excrescences of the bark variously interrupted.. 

 There is also a variety in mountain rocks, with shorter 

 thicker branches, winged with fungous excrescences of the 

 bark. The Russians sometimes use the leaves as a succe- 

 daneum for Tea. Native of Siberia. 



7. Ulmus Integrifolia ; Entire-leaved Elm. Leaves quite 

 entire; fruit orbicular, emarginate. Trunk straight and high; 

 bark a little scabrous, of a dirty gray colour; branches nume- 

 rous, spreading so as to form a large shady head ; flowers 

 hermaphrodite and male, mixed from little gems over the 

 naked branchlets. They appear during the cold season, and 

 the leaves fall about the close of the wet season, but come 

 out again in March. It is a very large timber tree, native of 

 the Circar mountains ; and is called Naulie by the Telingas, 

 who esteem the wood for various purposes. 



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