1922 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Wych elm is generally considered, even in the south, the toughest and best for 

 wheel stocks, trees of small size being cut into lengths and bored through the heart 

 to keep them from splitting as they dry. Most country wheelwrights who have a 

 reputation for the durability and soundness of their waggons prefer to select the trees 

 when growing in their own district ; but I have not been able to find any agreement 

 as to what they consider the best timber. 1 



As one goes north, however, the comparative value of wych elm as compared with 

 English and smooth-leaved elm, increases ; and it may be said generally that whilst 

 in the southern and midland counties, English elm is worth a third more than wych 

 elm ; in the north, where the former is falling off in size and quality, they are equally 

 valued, and in Scotland wych elm, the native tree of the country, is preferred ; and 

 when speaking of elm in Scotland, wych is generally implied. Many wheelwrights 

 speak of " bastard elm," a term which they apply to any trees which do not show in 

 their timber the colour and character which is associated with English elm. 



In France the same uncertainty and difference of opinion seems to exist ; and I 

 was told by an experienced waggon-builder in Savoy that he preferred the elm stocks 

 imported from Angoulenie, to any that were grown in the east of France. 



For ornamental purposes or furniture, elm is little used in England, probably 

 because it is liable to the attacks of wood-boring larvae. Large tables were some- 

 times made of a solid elm plank, but few examples remain of ancient furniture made 

 from this wood. One of the secondary staircases at Hatfield House is made of 

 elm, which has not warped and shows handsome figure, but it does not seem to 

 be of great antiquity. The best ornamental use, however, to which elm wood can 

 be put is as veneer, cut from the mottled, waved, and curiously veined burrs, which 

 are found not uncommonly on the trunks of old trees, especially of the wych elm. 

 These when cut into board, crack, shrink, and warp so badly that they can hardly 

 be used in cabinetmaking, but in the form of veneer they are sometimes of very great 

 beauty. In rare cases, the outside slab of an elm tree is found full of markings like 

 that of bird's-eye maple, which are due to undeveloped buds. Mr. E. Gimson, of 

 Daneway, near Cirencester, whose reputation as an artistic worker in fine woods is 

 great, showed an elm cabinet with a very rare mottled figure, made from a tree 

 grown in the neighbourhood, which I have never seen equalled. 



In Scotland I procured very fine examples of wych elm burr which, when 

 polished, show a deep rich reddish-brown colour, and from which all the lower part 

 of a most handsome bookcase was made for me. 



When visiting the palace of Fontainebleau, I was shown the cradle presented by 

 the city of Paris to Napoleon I. for his son and heir. I was assured by the guardian 

 that this was made from a rare and costly foreign wood, but though overloaded 

 with gilt metal-work, I recognised an elm burr, no better than many which are 

 allowed to rot in our English parks, from one of which it probably came. Very 

 handsome solid table-tops are also made from similar burrs, but more often they are 

 too full of holes and rindgalls to be of any value. (H. J. E.) 



1 Cf. p. 1886 for the wood of the Dutch elm, p. 1889 for that of the Cornish elm, and p. 1902, note 3, for that of the 

 small-leaved elm. 



