T 



CORK ELM 



(Ulmus Racemosd) 



1HIS tree is called cork elm in Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 



Island, New York, New Jersey, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, 

 Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio; rock elm in Rhode Island, Ken- 

 tucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, 

 Nebraska; hickory elm in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana; white elm 

 in Ontario; Thomas elm in Tennessee; northern cork-barked elm in 

 Tennessee; corkbark elm, New York; northern cork elm, Vermont; 

 wahoo, Ohio ; cliff elm in Wisconsin. 



Cork elm is the natural name. It is a descriptive term which a 

 stranger would be apt to apply on seeing the tree for the first time. 

 The bark of the branches, after it has attained an age of three or four 

 years, becomes rough by the growth of ridges and protuberances. This 

 feature is sometimes so prominent that it at once attracts attention, 

 particularly when the branches are bare of leaves ; hence the name cork 

 elm. 



Lumbermen insist on naming the tree rock elm. They refer to the 

 hardness of the wood, or they may have in mind the dry, stony situations 

 where tough, strong elm grows. The latter is often the case, because the 

 name is applied also to slippery elm and white elm if they grow on stony 

 ground. A wide-spread opinion prevails that wood which grows among 

 rocks is harder, tougher, stronger, and more durable than that produced 

 by deep, fertile soil. It is possible to cite much evidence to support that 

 view, and the case might be considered proved, but for the fact that an 

 equal, or greater amount of evidence, in every way as trustworthy, 

 may be cited on the other side. The strongest hickory, ash, and oak do 

 not come from stony land. It sometimes happens that a species with 

 tough, strong wood, is found on rocks, but it is not tough because it is 

 there, but in spite of being there. 



The name cliff elm which this tree bears in Wisconsin is but another 

 form of the name rock elm, and clearly has reference to the situation 

 where the tree grows in that part of the country. Hickory elm, on the 

 other hand, a name applied to this tree much farther south, is a recog- 

 nition of the woods toughness. 



In some particulars it does not fall much below hickory in tough- 

 ness, but is not as strong, elastic, or capable of as smooth polish. The 

 latter property is one of the recommendations of hickory when used for 

 handles. It is very smooth to the touch; cork elm is less so. In the 

 northern woods, elm ax handles are in use, and some axmen prefer them 



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