AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



the slow growth of the trees discourages foresters. A century or two is 

 a long look ahead. 



However, the exhaustion of no species of the elms in this country 

 need be expected soon. The most apparent peril lies ahead of cork elm, 

 because it never was abundant, and demand, which has been large for 

 a long time, is still strong. The species is scattered over more than 200,- 

 000 square miles, and a long time must elapse before the last cork elm 

 finds its way to the sawmill. The situation of white elm is more 

 promising. It may be among the last trees of the American forests to 

 take its final departure. Its wide range and its bounteous seed crops 

 insure a supply, though not necessarily a large one, for a long time. The 

 greatest peril to elms, as well as to many other forest trees, is that, when 

 weakened by depletion, some disease will attack them and destroy the 

 remnants. Experience in New England and elsewhere has shown that 

 elm has no great resisting power when a strong attack is made upon it. 



