THE ELM. 9 



wet. It is also liable to the attacks of those wonder- 

 fully minute insects Sirex Gigas and Sirex Juvancus — 

 the wood-borers. Of all insects these are no doubt the 

 most wonderful. You observe your chairs or table 

 full of pin-holes, and these holes increase in number ; 

 yet you can never discover what causes them. Well, 

 these tiny little insects, not large enough to be seen, 

 have done it all, and will ultimately destroy the article, 

 so that one day it will drop to pieces in your hand. 

 These insects do not wait until the wood is decayed, but 

 attack articles as hard and as sound as bone, seeming 

 almost to delight in their hardness. I have tried many 

 times to find the wood- destroyer, but never could, 

 although I have had some articles destroyed by it. 



The Ash- tree seldom sends down a direct taproot, 

 but is provided with some few indirect downward spurs, 

 which descend with equal strength and support as a 

 taproot. In fact, those who grub the bottoms up say 

 these spurs are worse to get out than a breach with a 

 taproot, because they are not so easily found. Besides 

 some five or six of these deep spurs, the Ash is pro- 

 vided with numerous surface-roots of a large size, 

 according to the age of the tree, which frequently run 

 on the surface of the ground scarcely half buried. 

 These roots may be frequently traced for several yards. 

 They seem to go a long distance in search of nutri- 

 ment, and will so impoverish land that no vegetation 

 can survive except of the tree kind. For this reason 

 the Ash must never be allowed to grow near tillage- 

 land. I mention this particularly as a caution. 



The Elm. 



The Elm, like the Ash family, contains numerous 

 species and varieties. The Campestris are the common 

 varieties we usually see ; the Montana and its varieties 

 are seed-bearers, and are used for stocks for grafting 

 the others on. Most Elms will grow from suckers, 

 when they can be had ; and this is often the case, as 

 the Elm is free to produce suckers from the roots that 



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