Ulmus 1 871 



A fine plantation of these elms is reported ' near Chatelineau, in the Pare de 

 Presles, where on deep fertile soil, resting on limestone, there are sixty-one trees to 

 the acre, averaging 4J ft. in girth, with a total volume in the round of 3500 cubic ft. 

 These trees are said to be only thirty-four years old. I measured in 191 2 a young 

 Belgian elm, which had just been blown down in the Royal Park of Laeken. It was 

 108 ft. high by 4 ft. 8 in. in girth ; but I was unable to count the annual rings. In 

 the poor soil of the Brussels Park, one of these elms averaged 2 six rings to the inch 

 of radius during the first eighty years. Huberty gives 3 a good photograph of two 

 Belgian elms, growing on the road between Jemelle and Rochefort, which, though 

 only forty-eight years old, are 9 ft. in girth. Others near Genappe, thirty-five years 

 old, are 4 to 5 ft. in girth ; while some fifty-eight years old are only 7 ft. round. 



The elms which were planted in the park at Brussels by Zimmer in 1790, have 

 been described by M. Bommer, 2 who states that they have passed their prime, and 

 that many are suffering from the attack of Polyporus squamosus. These elms are 

 very fine trees, growing in sandy soil. The leaves, when seen by Elwes on May 9, 

 191 1, were not fully out, and there were no flowers visible. They have trunks clear 

 of branches to 40 to 60 ft., probably due to pruning, with a total height of no ft. 

 to 125 ft. 



In the park at Haarlem, and in the " Bosch " at the Hague, there are many 

 fine trees of the same type, on a somewhat similar soil. Some of those at the 

 Hague, which looked quite young, were 120 ft. or more in height; and Elwes was 

 told by Mr. Westbrook, superintendent of the municipal parks and nurseries at 

 the Hague, that the best elms in the country were grown in the large nurseries 

 at Oudenbosch and Calmpthout, north of Antwerp. I was informed at these 

 nurseries in 191 2, that the Belgian elm was exported to England on rare occasions; 

 but we have seen no old trees of the kind in this country, except one at Kew, about 

 35 ft. high, which was obtained under the name U. Pitteursii from Lee in 1879. I* 

 is possible, however, that it may have escaped the notice of ourselves and of our 

 correspondents, on account of its resemblance to U. montana. 



Hiibner reports 4 that the Belgian elm thrives on the worst soils, and on that 

 account is planted in belts on the margins of pine woods in Prussia. All the indica- 

 tions in Belgium also point to the fact that this elm succeeds better on poor sandy 

 soils than any other variety. 



5. Ulmus belgica, var. Dumontii, Henry. Dumont Elm. 



Ulmus campestris, var. Dumontii, Nicholson and Mottet, Diet. Prat. Hort. v. 383 (1898). 

 Ulmus montana, var. Dumontii, Aigret, in Ann. Trav. Publ. Belg. x. 1231 (1905). 



Branches ascending, forming a narrow pyramidal tree. This scarcely differs 

 from the common Belgian elm, except in height, and like it, is propagated by 

 layering. 5 The original tree is said to have been found about 1865 in the park of 

 M. Dumont at Tournai, where it was growing amidst a plantation of ordinary orme 

 gras ; and was subsequently propagated and sold under the name of orme Dumont. 



1 Bull. Soc. Cent. Forest. Belg. xvi. 346 (1909). 2 Ibid. iv. 105-109 (1899). 



3 Ibid. xi. 571, t. vi. (1904). 4 Mitt. Deut. Dend. Ges. 1908, p. 122. 



6 I have not been able to examine specimens from adult trees. Young nursery plants of orme gras and orme Dumont 

 are very similar, and resemble U. montana in foliage and branchlets, more than the old trees do. 



