58 ANCIENT WYCH ELM. 



would have been lauded and hymned, for having 

 endowed the oak of Britain with such extensive 

 virtues for the good of mankind. 



The other tree, that I mentioned above as one 

 of our boasts, is a wych or broad-leaved elm 

 (ulmus montana), standing near the turnpike road. 

 This very fine and stately tree was saved, when 

 the merciless axe levelled all its companions, at 

 the solicitation of a lady now no more, and remains 

 a testimony of her good taste, the civility of the 

 agent, and the ornament of our village. When 

 in youth, this species presents a character decidedly 

 different from the common elm (ulmus campestris) . 

 Its branches at times are so strong as to be nearly 

 equal in size with the main stem that supports 

 them, and loaded with such a profusion of foliage 5 

 that the sprays become pendent, and give the idea 

 of luxuriance with weakness, of a growth beyond 

 strength : advancing in age, its arms and sprays 

 become less pensile, as the leaves are smaller and 

 less burdensome ; yet they hang commonly in large 

 heavy masses^ like what we formerly were accus- 

 tomed to see in the aquatintas of Jukes, and the 

 prints of that period. It can however occasionally 

 assume the appearance of elegance and lightness, 

 and is usually less aspiring and more branching 

 than the common elm ; its dense foliage yields a 

 fine shade for cattle, and it deserves even on this 

 account, if it possessed no other merit, a more 



