The Elms and the Hackberries 



burden of leaves. The Briton is stocky; the American, airily 

 graceful. One stands heavily "upon its heels," the other on 

 tiptoe. One has a compact crown, the other an open, loose one. 

 In October the English elm is still bright, dark green; the Amer- 

 ican elm has passed into the sere and yellow leaf. 



The elm is the favourite tree of the hang bird, or Baltimore 

 oriole, in America. In wmter the deserted nests swing from the 

 high outer limbs, where the leaves concealed them in nesting 

 time. The English elm at home is the red-breast's tree. These 

 birds build, not in the upper limbs, but in those that grow down 

 near the trunk, and come earliest into leaf. 



Classical literature proves the antiquity and the great im- 

 portance of the elms of southern Europe. The Romans used 

 elm leaves as forage for cattle. In the vineyards elms were 

 planted to support the vines. The trees were well pruned so 

 they should not overshadow the grapes. It was counted danger- 

 ous to give bees freedom to visit blooming elms, lest they become 

 surfeited, and sicken as a result. In this opinion the early 

 observers were evidently mistaken. Virgil discourses upon the 

 successful grafting of oak upon elm, and describes swine eating 

 acorns that dropped from the fruiting branches of this wonderful 

 tree. Experiment long ago proved the fallacy of this report. 

 In England the rustic still watches the elm for signal to sow his 

 grain, relying on the old saw: 



"When the elme leaf is as big as a mouse's ear, 

 Then to sow barley never fear." 



The witch hazel {Hamamelis Virginiana) does not grow in 

 England, but the wych elm was known in some regions by this 

 name, because its leaf is hazel-like. Long bows were anciently 

 made of its wood, and it was mentioned in the "Statutes of 

 England." 



Slippery Elm, Red Elm {U. fulva, Michx.) Fast-growing 

 tree, 60 to 70 feet high, with erect, spreading branches, forming 

 a broad, open head. Twigs stout, rusty, downy. Bark brown- 

 ish, rough, scaly. IVood strong, hard, heavy, coarse, reddish 

 brown, durable in soil. Buds densely rusty, pubescent; large, 

 blunt. Leaves alternate, deciduous, 2-ranked, broadly oval, 4 to 

 7 inches long, irregularly heart shaped at base, acuminate at 

 apex, doubly serrate, strongly ribbed; on short, stout petiole; 



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