COMMERCIAL USES OF THE WHITE ELM 



263 



their fresh game, and trussed up their luggage 

 when on the hike. In the south, strands of the 

 bark (also of wing elm) were used in bagging 

 cotton, and thin strands were sometimes employed 

 in bottoming chairs. It was woven into large, 

 coarse baskets for use about the farms, but such 

 baskets were not good for as much wear as 

 baskets made of hickory or oak splits. 



SHIPS AND BOATS 



The English who settled in New England were 

 constantly on the lookout for ship timber. There 

 was abundance of white pine for masts, but hard- 

 woods for ribs and planking were needed, and 

 elm was one of the earliest of American woods 

 to be given a trial. Shipbuilders in Maine appear 

 to have been the first to use it for keels. It stood 

 strains and shocks remarkably well and offered 

 reasonable resistance to decay. It was tried near 

 the same time for piling, and it is so used to this 

 day. It stands the pounding of waves and resists 

 the impact of vessels snubbing up to piers. 



The wood enters into boat building, from the 

 longest ship down to the canoe where its place is 

 the bottom board laid inside, on which occupants 

 stand and walk. Barge builders use it in practi- 

 cally all parts of those huge clumsy vessels. It is 

 recommended by its toughness and strength, and 

 also by its wearing qualities. 



It was one of the early exports to England where the vessels. It was employed for similar purposes by ship- 

 builders of ships used it for gunwales, garboards, slips, builders in this country. It was sometimes laid for decks 

 grating, fenders, planking, ladders and the lining of the but objection was urged against it because it became 



rough, and was sometimes in- 

 clined to rise in splinters. One 

 of the properties which made it 

 popular was its whiteness. No 

 matter how stained and foul it 

 became, a vigorous application 

 of soap, sand, water, and the 

 scrub brush made it white. That 

 quality is said to have given it 

 the name white elm in the ship- 

 yards, but the light color of the 

 bark appears to have been re- 

 sponsible for the name in other 

 regions. The whiteness of the 

 vvood, after an application of the 

 scrubbing brush, is still appre- 

 ciated, not only among boat 

 builders but by makers of refrig- 

 erators and cold storage plants 

 where unpainted woods must be 

 used and it is desirable to keep 

 them clean and attractive. 



An examination of detailed 

 reports of boat building in the 

 the benedict elm principal states where that in- 



This elm is in Wilton township, Fairfield County, Conn., its circumference is 14 feet 11)4 inches; and Atict-r- io Pr ; 0/ 1 ^ U *-U * 



its spread is about 105 feet. It was photographed and measured by Norman De W. Betts. UUSiry IS CarneO On SnOWS tllat 



THE WKATHEKSHELD, CONNECTICUT, EEM 



It is claimed that this is the largest elm in Connecticut. Its circumference is 27 

 feet 1 inch; its spread 142 feet 8 l / 2 inches and it is about 175 years old. 



