494 ULMUS CAMPESTRIS. 
the branches may be cut from the stem, except a small tuft at the top ; and still 
the tree will grow vigorously, affording, where that mode of feeding cattle is con- 
sidered profitable, an ample crop of branches every three or four years. When 
headed down to the height often or twelve feet, it is very prolific of branches, as 
a pollard, and will live and be productive, in this state, for a great number of 
years. When grown exclusively for the timber of its trunk, however, it requires 
to be allowed a considerable amplitude of head ; perhaps not less than one third 
of its whole height. The timber, in this case, is found to be far more compact 
and durable, though not so curiously veined and variously coloured as it is when 
the tree is allowed to produce branches from the ground upwards. The timber 
of the elm, not being remarkable for its durability, is. in old trees, very com- 
monly found decayed at the heart; and this is 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 
seventy and eighty years ; and if the trunk is disbarked a year before it is cut 
down, the wood will be more thoroughly seasoned."* 
Accidents, Diseases, and Bisects. The Ulmus campestris, from the straight- 
ness, toughness, and strength of its trunk, in proportion to its head, is not liable 
to be injured by high winds, except at an advanced age, in yielding at the roots, 
an accident which much more frequently befalls this tree than the American 
species, as was fairly tested on Boston Common, in the memorable gale of Sep- 
tember, 1815, when several English elms, in the Mall, were uprooted, while the 
native species, by their side, withstood the blast with but slight injury. The 
European elm, however, is 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, appearing on the body of the tree, according to Michaux, " at a 
height of three or four feet from the ground, and which discharges a great quan- 
tity of sap." " The disease penetrates gradually," he adds, "into the interior 
of the tree, and corrupts its substance. Many attempts have been made to cure 
it in the beginning, and to arrest its progress, but hitherto without success. The 
best treatment is to pierce the tree to the depth of two or three inches, with an 
auger, in the very heart of the malady, which is manifested by the flowing of 
the sap." The matter discharged by this ulcer has been analysed by M. Vau- 
quelin, and found to contain carbonates of lime, potash, and of magnesia, and sul- 
phate of potash. The mode of treatment recommended in the " Nouveau Cours 
d'Agriculture," 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. 
This species, when grown in an unsuitable soil, that is, in one which is either 
excessively wet or extremely dry, is very subject to a disease called carcinoma. 
It shows itself by the extravasated cambium forming long, black streaks down 
the bark, and by its sweetness, attracts numerous insects, of several tribes, to feed 
upon it. Mr. Spence thinks that this disease, very probably, is caused by the 
scolyti. "I have seen," he says, in a communication to Mr. Loudon, "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, and numerous insects were attracted to feed on it." 
Among the insects attacking the Ulmus campestris, is what is vulgarly called 
the elm flea, (Haltica,) which devours the leaves, but is said to do no serious 
injury to the tree itself. 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. They are so lively and so quick in their movements, that, 
hough a branch may appear covered with them one moment, the next they will 
* Arboretum Britannicum, iii., p. 1384. 
