RED ELM 299 



to become leaders. When grown in the open in early life it 

 has little value for lumber. It is not known that it has been 

 planted for forest purposes in this country, and a careful 

 examination of young growth coming on from natural seed- 

 ing must be our guide as to the distance apart the trees 

 should stand in the forest, probably from six to seven 

 feet, according to fertility and moisture of the soil. The 

 tree has so many valuable features that it will be safe to 

 plant largely, especially in situations where it may not be 

 profitable to cultivate land for farm crops, as along streams 

 that frequently overflow their banks, and where it may 

 be too wet to cultivate at all, or difficult to get at. While 

 there are better species of trees for lumber, this can be 

 grown where but few superior ones will thrive. 



KED ELM : SLIPPERY ELM : Ulmus pubescens 



THIS tree has substantially the same range as the White 

 Elm. It can be grown in all respects in the same manner 

 as that tree, and its wood can be used for the same pur- 

 poses, with the additional advantage that it resists decay 

 longer when exposed to the soil. It prefers the same kind 

 of soil as the White Elm, but it seldom attains a height of 

 over sixty feet or a diameter of more than two feet. It is 

 quite similar in general appearance to the other Elms, but 

 its leaves are larger and rougher. It grows more rapidly 

 when young, but it is not long-lived, and its thick, live bark 

 is heavily charged with mucilage which is frequently used 

 in medicine. 



The heartwood is brown-red and the sapwood thin and 

 light-colored. The heartwood is strong, tough, coarse- 

 grained, and, except being darker in color and resisting 

 decay longer, is practically the same as that of the White 

 Elm. The time of blossoming and ripening the seeds is 

 substantially the same as that of the White Elm, but the 

 seeds have a much wider film or continuous wing. Its cul- 

 tivation should be along the same lines. 



