AMERICAN FOREST TREES 393 



northern boundary of its range, it is locally known as basket elm, because basket 

 makers find desirable qualities in its wood. It is a species of rather limited range, but 

 it is abundant in certain regions. It is found as far east as Sunflower river, Mississ- 

 ippi, north into Arkansas, west to Pecos river, Texas, and south into Mexico. It is 

 confined to three states, this side the Rio Grande. Trees on dry hills are inclined to 

 be shrubby, but in damp valleys where soil is fertile, specimens attain a height of 

 eighty feet and a diameter of three, but the average is not nearly so large. The 

 leaves are small but numerous. The flowering habits of this elm are somewhat 

 erratic. The usual time for bloom to appear is August, and a month or six weeks 

 afterwards the small seeds are ready for flight; but occasionally, as if not satisfied 

 with its first effort, the tree blooms again in October, and ripens a second crop late in 

 the fall. The seeds are poorly supplied with wings, which are reduced to narrow 

 margins surrounding the seed. It does not appear, however, that the species is in 

 any way handicapped in securing reproduction. The small shoots are equipped with 

 flat, corky keels, similar to but much smaller than those of the wing elm. 



This tree is important for the lumber it produces. It is the common and most 

 abundant elm of Texas, and it is found in a large part of that state. The wood is the 

 weakest of the elms, and is likewise quite brittle; but in the region where it is most 

 abundant it compares favorably with any other. The best is cut from the largest 

 trees, which grow in valleys where moisture is abundant. The growth found on the 

 dry hills is of poor quality, and is worth little, even for fuel. The highest develop- 

 ment in Texas, and also the highest in the species' range, is in the valleys of Trinity 

 and Guadalupe rivers. In Texas this wood is employed in furniture factories as inside 

 frames, to be covered by other woods, but it is not employed as outside parts of 

 furniture, unless in very cheap kinds. It is suitable for drain boards and floors of 

 refrigerators where it is wet much of the time. Under such circumstances it is 

 more easily kept clean than most other woods. It whitens with repeated scrubbings. 

 One of its most common uses in Texas is for wagon hubs. Some wheelwrights pro- 

 nounce it next to the best native wood for that purpose, the first place being accorded 

 Osage orange. The tree is often planted for shade along the streets of Texas towns, 

 and develops thick crowns and satisfactory forms. 



RED ELM (Ulmus serotina) is a lately discovered member of the elm family. It 

 so closely resembles the cork elm that it was supposed to be of the same species, and 

 the close scrutiny of a botanist was required to discover that it was a separate species. 

 Sargent observed the flowers opening in September while those of cork elm appear in 

 early spring. The seeds ripen in November, while cork elm's are ripe early in the 

 summer. The tree was named red elm, the wood being reddish-brown. That name 

 is widely applied to slippery elm, but it is improbable that much confusion will result. 

 The red elm's range is quite restricted and in that area the slippery elm is not im- 

 portant. Red elm occurs on limestone hills and river banks from central Kentucky to 

 northern Georgia and Alabama. It attains a height of fifty or sixty feet and a diam- 

 eter of two or three. The leaves are from two to four inches in length, and one or two 

 wide, with margins toothed like the other elms. The midrib is yellow, and in the 

 autumn the leaves change to an orange yellow before falling. Branches which are 

 two or three years old develop corky wings, two or three in number. 



It is not known that mechanical tests of the wood have been made in a regu- 

 lar way to determine its physical properties, but superficial examination indicates 

 that it is hard, tough, and strong, apparently about the same as cork elm. Special 

 lists of uses for this wood have not been compiled for the reason that lumbermen 

 and operators of sawmills have never distinguished it from other elms of the 



