THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



221 



/"OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES included the elm at Sheffield among 

 those of greatest size, beauty and symmetry of form. Doubtless the 

 Sheffield elm was so classified on account of its great beauty and spread 

 of branches, for it fails to show twenty feet of clear girth at five feet 

 from the ground, even at the present time. It has always been considered 

 as one of the most beautiful elms in Massachusetts, and though old age 

 has at last crept upon it, the individuality in the arrangement of its 

 numerous branches continues to produce a strong, graceful and pleasing 



appearance. In 

 1916 it meas- 

 ured 3 feet from 

 the ground, 20 

 feet and 3 in- 

 ches in circum- 

 ference, and at 

 six feet 19 feet 

 and 7 inches. 

 The spread 

 westward was 

 fifty-four feet 

 and the height 

 eighty-two feet. 

 Tradition has it 

 that the old elm 

 was standing 

 when the town 

 was settled, in 

 172S. 



THE DEERFIELD BUTTONWOOD 



AMONG those 



few trees 

 which may be 

 called elms of 

 the first class is 

 the Lafayette 

 Elm. This tree 

 is situated 

 southwest of the 

 village of Ware, 

 on the road to 



Palmer, and is 20 feet 7 inches in circumference, 75 feet in height and 100 

 feet in the spread of its branches. The enormous trunk divides at about 

 ten feet into three branches, the largest of which subdivides into four 

 more. The smallest of the four is fifteen inches in diameter. In general 

 appearance the tree is slightly over-developed on the east side, one great 

 limb stretching in this direction for more than sixty-five feet. Tradition 

 says that during Revolutionary times, Lafayette rested underneath this 

 tree while on his way to meet Washington, and at a later date the elm 

 was named for the famous Frenchman. 



THE SHEFFIELD ELM 



TT is difficult to select a single tree 

 from among the many beautiful 

 ones in historic old Deerfield, but 

 the buttonwood in front of the 

 academy is at least representative. It 

 is now eighteen feet in circumference 

 and one hundred feet in height and 

 spread. It stands within the bounds 

 of what was once the enclosure of 

 the fort which was built in 1689. If 

 size is any test of a tree's age, this 

 buttonwood was standing at the time 

 Of the Indian wars, for its circum- 

 ference is larger than that of the 

 Charlemont buttonwood by about 

 two feet. Many thrilling events took 

 place within a radius of fifty yards 

 from the spot occupied by the tree. 



niiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiin 



THE LAFAYETTE ELM 



