224 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



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WHILE the famous Cunningham Maple and the Carter Oak are both 

 in advanced stages of decay, and appear "like veteran warriors, 

 beaten down in battle, bearing up their banners to the last," the Beaman 

 Oak remains in all the glory of its strength, and is claimed to be the 

 largest red oak in Massachusetts. It marks the place where Gamaliel 

 Beaman, an early settler, built his house in 1659. The measurements are 

 as follows: Circumference at the ground, 29 feet; at breast height, 20 

 feet ; at five 

 feet from the 

 ground, 19 feet 

 9 inches ; height, 

 75 feet; spread 

 of branches, 90 

 feet. 



'I 'HE only tree 

 in Massa- 

 chusetts which, 

 at maturity, has 

 ever approach- 

 ed the Rugg 

 Elm in the 

 grandeur of its 

 spreading 

 branches is the 

 elm w h \ c h 

 stands on the 

 Knowlton farm 

 in West Acton. 

 This superb-elm 

 lost over half 

 of its branches 

 about three 

 years ago, when 

 they fell of 

 their own 

 weight in a 

 very ordinary 

 gale. Timely 



assistance would have preserved this tree for more than a generation. It 

 has long been credited with possessing the greatest spread of any elm 

 in this section of the country, and the remaining half section covers 

 fully a hundred feet of ground. The largest limb, which was shorn ott 

 and still lies where it fell, is 11 feet and 4 inches in circumference. It 

 would seem as if strength had been sacrificed for beauty, and as it a 

 noble head had at last fallen from shoulders too weak to support it. 1 he 

 trunk is fourteen feet, eight and a half inches in circumference and 

 thoroughly sound. The height of the tree is sixty-seven feet. 



THE BEAMAN OAK 



THE ELM AT WEST ACTON 



THE RUGG ELM 



THE Rugg Elm (also known as 

 the Gates Elm) at Framingham, 

 situated about two hundred yards 

 from the turnpike road, between 

 Framingham and Fayville near the 

 grounds of the Country Club, is 

 without doubt the largest elm to be 

 found anywhere in New England. 

 The circumference at one foot from 

 the ground is 28^ feet, and at 

 about three feet from the ground 

 the trunk divides into two parts, 

 one of which, at breast height, is 

 17 feet and the other 14 feet in 

 circumference. Between these two 

 trunks there is a peculiar woody 

 formation, or "nubbin" which may 

 at one time have been the beginning 

 of a third section. The two gigantic 

 trunks sub-divide at about eight feet 

 into three large branches each, and 

 in combination, form one of the 

 most remarkable crowns that can be 

 conceived of. The spread of the 

 branches is 145 feet and the height 

 of the tree is 70 feet. The age 

 of the Rugg Elm is variously esti- 

 mated at from 300 to 400 years. 



