THE ENGLISH ELM 



THE tree which has been very generally planted in New England and some other 

 parts of America under the name of English Elm is the common Elm of Central 

 and Southern Europe, where it has been planted as an ornamental tree from 

 time immemorial. It was introduced into America by some of the earliest settlers and is 

 said to have been first planted by a wheelwright who desired the wood for making hubs, 

 for which purpose the wood of the tree has long been famous. Some of the most cele- 

 brated and beautiful trees of this species growing in America are those on Boston Common, 

 a noble group of them being represented in the plate. As will be noticed, the habit of 

 growth is quite different from that of our more graceful American Elm, and the tree when 

 growing alone in the open often takes on an appearance which at a little distance reminds 

 one of an Oak. The largest of those on the Mall in Boston Harbor was measured in 1844 

 by Professor Asa Gray and Mr. George B. Emerson and found to have a circumference of 

 eleven feet and two inches, five feet from the ground. Some other English Elms which 

 were formerly growing near Park Street Church were said to have been planted in 1762 

 and in 1826 to have measured nine feet in circumference at four feet from the ground. 

 Some other Elms in Roxbury, Massachusetts, after having been planted fifty years, meas- 

 ured eight feet and eleven inches at three feet from the ground. These facts indicate 

 that, like our own White Elm, the European species grows very rapidly. As an ornamental 

 tree it also has the decided advantage that it retains its green foliage for a considerably 

 later period in autumn than do our native species. There are a great many horticultural 

 varieties of the English Elm. 



As will be seen from the picture on the plate, the flowers of the English Elm are 

 quite similar to those of the American, while the fruit is much larger and of a different 

 shape. The foliage is less sharply and deeply serrate on the margins. The leaves of this 

 tree were used in olden times as food for cattle by the Romans, a practice which perhaps 

 still persists in parts of France. The wood, also, has been highly esteemed through the 

 ages, being especially sought after in ship-building and for use for piles, fence-posts and 

 other purposes where durability in contact with water is desired. 



The affection with which the English people regard this Elm is well indicated in 

 the familiar lines in Browning's "Home Thoughts from Abroad:" 



" Oh! to be in England, now that April's there! 

 Whoever wakes in England sees some morning, unaware, 

 That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf 

 Round the elm tree bole are in tiny leaf." 



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