ELM. 



ELM. 



its great durability in water, which also occa- 

 sions its extensive use as piles and planking 

 for wet foundations. A second-rate charcoal 

 is made from this wood ; and rails and gates 

 of elm, thin sawed, Evelyn tells us in his Sylva, 

 are not so apt to rive as oak. Elm is said to 

 bear transplanting better than any other large 

 tree. It is propagated by seed, layers, or 

 suckers, and by grafting and budding. Suck- 

 ers, however, generally disfigure those trees 

 raised from layers or suckers. As the value 

 of this timber consists more in the length and 

 bulk of the shaft than in the irregular growth 

 of its branches, it is the business of the planter 

 to train them up tall and straight, and not to 

 suffer them to branch till within a few feet of 

 the top. The leaves of the elm are eagerly 

 eaten by cattle, sheep, and hogs. The inner 

 bark of the elm is nearly as valuable a medi- 

 cinal agent as the much-vaunted sarsaparilla. 

 The decoction of it forms an excellent vehicle 

 for minute doses of corrosive sublimate in 

 some obstinate skin diseases; and in combi- 

 nation with vinegar or muriatic acid, it is a 

 useful gargle in inflamed throats. 



Several species of the Ulmus family are 

 found in the United States. Among these the 

 white or weeping elm (Ulmus Americana}, is 

 met with over a very extensive tract of the 

 continent. Michaux says that his father no- 

 ticed it as high north as latitude 48 20', near 

 the entrance of the river Mistassin into Lake 

 St. John, and that he had himself observed it 

 from Nova Scotia to the extremity of Georgia, 

 a distance of at least 1200 miles. It abounds 

 in all the Western states. The district of coun- 

 try in which it seems to flourish best is com- 

 prised between the 42d and 46th degrees of 

 latitude, in Western New York, the Eastern 

 States, and adjoining British provinces. It de- 

 lights in low and humid soils, and is frequently 

 met with on the borders of swamps and fertile 

 bottoms, associated with the white maple and 

 buttonwood. On the banks of rivers its base 

 is frequently overflowed by freshets, and its 

 diameter often increases to four feet. But it 

 is where the primitive forests, in which it 

 has been once insulated, have been cleared 

 away, that the American elm when left appears 

 in its greatest majesty, towering to the height 

 of 80 or 100 feet, with a trunk 4 or 5 feet in 

 diameter, regularly shaped, naked, and insen- 

 sibly diminishing to the height of 60 or 70 feet, 

 where it divides into two or three primary 

 limbs. These limbs do not part so suddenly 

 as those of most other trees, but approach and 

 cross each other, interlacing and bending their 

 flexible branches so as to form regular arches 

 of the Gothic character, floating lightly in the 

 air. Michaux mentions a singularity in this 

 tree he had found in no other, namely, that 

 two small limbs, 4 or 5 feet long, grow in a 

 reversed position near the first fork, and de- 

 scend along the trunk. 



The American white elm differs essentially 

 from the red elm and the European elm in its 

 flowers and seeds. The flowers appear before 

 the leaves, and are very small and of a purple 

 colour. The seeds are contained in a flat, 

 oval, fringed capsule, being mature from the 

 15th of May to the 1st of June. 

 56 



The buttonwood astonishes the eye by the 

 size of its trunk and the amplitude of its head ; 

 but the white elm has a more majestic appear- 

 ance, owing to its greater height, and the dis- 

 position of its principal limbs. When grow- 

 ing alone, the limbs generally branch off at 8, 

 10, or 12 feet from the ground. 



"The trunk of this elm is covered Avith a 

 white, tender bark, very deeply furrowed. The 

 wood, like that of the common European elm, 

 is of a dark brown, and, cut transversely or 

 obliquely to the longitudinal fibres, it exhibits 

 the same numerous and fine undulations; but 

 it splits more easily, and has less compactness, 

 hardness, and strength. This opinion was given 

 me by several English wheel-wrights establish- 

 ed in the United States, and I have since proved 

 its correctness by a comparison of the two spe- 

 cies. The white elm is used, however, at New 

 York and farther north, for the naves of coach- 

 wheels, because it is didicult to procure the 

 black gum, which at Philadelphia is preferred 

 for this purpose. It is not admitted into the 

 construction of houses or of vessels, except 

 occasionally in the district of Maine for keels, 

 for which it is adapted only by its size. Irs 

 bark is said to be easily detached during eight 

 months of the year; soaked in water and sup- 

 pled by pounding, it is used in the Northern 

 States for the bottoms of common chairs. 



"Such are the few and unimportant uses of 

 the white elm in the United States; it is far in- 

 ferior to the European elm, which is a tree of 

 very extensive utility, and it deserves attention 

 in the old world only as the most magnificent 

 vegetable of the temperate zone." (Jficfamr.) 



The Red or Tawny elm (Ulmus nibm), called 

 also the slippery elm. " Except the maritime 

 districts of the Carolinas and Georgia, this spe- 

 cies of elm is found in all parts of the United 

 States and of Canada. It bears the names of 

 red elm, slippery elm, and moose elm, of which 

 the first is the most common ; the French of 

 Canada and Upper Louisiana call it Orme gras. 



"The red elm, though not rare, is less com- 

 mon than the oaks, the maples, the sweet gum, 

 and the sassafras ; it is also less multiplied 

 than the white elm, and the two species are 

 rarely found together, as the red elm requires 

 a substantial soil, free from moisture, and even 

 delights in elevated and open situations, such 

 as the steep banks of rivers, particularly of the 

 Hudson and the Susquehanna. In Ohio, Ken- 

 tucky, and Tennessee it is more multiplied 

 than east of the mountains, and with the 

 hickories, the wild cherry tree, the red mul- 

 berry, the sweet locust, the coffee tree, and 

 some other species, it constitutes the growth 

 upon the richest lands of an uneven surface. 



"This tree is 50 or 60 feet high, and 15 or 

 20 inches in diameter. In the winter it is distin- 

 guished from the white elm by its buds, which 

 are larger and rounder, and which, a fortnight 

 before their developement, are covered with a 

 russet down. 



"The flowers are aggregated at the extre- 

 mity of the young shoots. The scales which 

 surround the bunches of flowers are downy like 

 the buds. The flowers and seeds differ from 

 those of the preceding species; the calyx is 

 downy and sessile, and the stamina are short 



441 



