208 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



height is about seventy feet, with a thick- 

 ness of two and a half or three. The wood 

 is neither as tough as the oak, nor as elastic 

 as the ash : but it is still very tough, and less 

 apt to split than either. In France, it is more 

 generally used for making the carriages of 

 guns, or cannon, than for any other purpose ; 

 cannon, you know, are exceedingly heavy, 

 and the carriages must be very strong, and 

 able to bear a great deal of rough usage ; no 

 wood is found so proper as the elm : and they 

 take a great deal of pains in choosing and 

 seasoning the trees cut down for the purpose ; 

 I have been told that they keep them seven 

 or eight years under sheds before they use 

 them, and turn them two or three times a 

 year, so that they may become perfectly dry. 

 The wood makes excellent ship-blocks too. 

 In England they use it for wheels, and for 

 the wood-work of large machinery ; and in 

 some parts of the country, where the elms are 

 abundant, and coal scarce, they burn it, and 

 very excellent fuel it makes. The bark is 

 tough and stringy, and may be made into 

 good ropes. 



" In the United States there are three kinds 

 of elm. The largest is called the white elm. 



