1380 ARBORETUM AND FF UTK F.TIM. PART 111. 



himself had seen some of these elms in Burgundy, with trunks from 4ft. to 

 5 ft. in diameter, which, though hollow, yet supported heads capable of shel- 

 tering some thousands of men. In England, the elm has been planted from 

 time immemorial ; and, probably, from the era of the possession of the island 

 by the Romans ; though Dr. Walker supposes it to have been brought over at 

 the time of the Crusades. The oldest trees on record are, perhaps, those of 

 Mongewell, in Oxfordshire, which were celebrated in the time of Leland, in the 

 reign of Queen Elizabeth. There may, however, be much older trees ; for the 

 elm, being a tree of less national importance than the oak, has never possessed 

 the same attractions for antiquaries. In Scotland, the English elm was hardly 

 known before the union of the two kingdoms. Dr. Walker mentions it, in 

 ] 780, as being found nowhere in that country of a large size; but, as already 

 mentioned, promising to afford a much greater quantity of wood than the 

 Scotch elm in the same space of time. He particularises a tree planted in 

 1771, which, in 1799, was 35ft. high. In Ireland, the narrow-leaved elm is 

 said, in Mackay's Flora Hibcrnica to be abundant, but scarcely indigenous ; 

 and no instances are given of large trees. In the middle and southern states 

 of Germany, it attains a considerable size, as will be seen by our statistics 

 of this tree in foreign countries. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the elm loses a great deal in drying : 

 weighing, when green, nearly 70 Ib. the cubic foot; and, when dry, not more 

 than 48 Ib. The wood is of a brownish colour, and is hard and fine-grained. 

 It possesses greater lateral adhesion, and less longitudinal toughness, than that 

 of U. montana, and, consequently, does not crack so much as that sort in 

 drying. In ship-building it is valuable for forming the blocks and dead eyes, 

 and other wooden furniture of rigging, being particularly suitable for these 

 purposes, from its hard and adhesive nature, and indisposition to crack 

 or split when exposed to sun or weather. (See Matthews on Naval Timber, 

 &c., p. 57.) The great use of the English elm, however, in ship-building, is 

 for keels. The Norfolk elm is said by Sir J. E. Smith to make the best 

 timber, and to sell for double the price of any other. It is rather remarkable, 

 that Marshall seems of a diametrically opposite opinion ; since he says that there 

 is not a single good elm in that county. Sir J. E. Smith adds that, in Norfolk, 

 the elm is generally used for the naves of wheels ; and in many parts of 

 England, and particularly about London, it is also employed for coffins. (See 

 Eng. Fl. t ii. p. 20.) The knobs which grow upon old trees are divided into thin 

 plates by cabinet-makers, particularly in France and Germany; and, when 

 polished, they exhibit very curious and beautiful arrangements of the fibre, 

 which render this wood extremely ornamental for furniture. A mode is 

 mentioned in the Museum Rusticum (vols. i. and ii.) of preparing the wood of 

 the trunk of the elm for cabinet-makers, and giving it the colour of mahogany. 

 This consists in sawing the wood into thin planks, and then boiling it for an 

 hour or more, till all the sap is extracted. The planks are afterwards wiped 

 dry with coarse cloths, and laid in piles, alternately with layers of deal laths, 

 placed across the boards at regular distances ; about ten or twelve boards are 

 thus placed one above the other, and a heavy weight put on the last. In this 

 way, the boards dry without warping, and are afterwards washed with aqua 

 fortis, when they are ready for the dye. This consists of two drachms of pow- 

 dered dragon's blood, one drachm of powdered alkanet root, and half a drachm 

 of aloes. These ingredients are steeped in half a pint of spirits of wine, and the 

 tincture is applied with a sponge, being repeated two or three times, according 

 to the depth of colour required. Elm timber is remarkably durable in water ; 

 and it is particularly adapted for piles, pumps, water-pipes, or any other similar 

 purposes. It is generally employed for making the keels of large ships ; and, 

 for this purpose, it often sells for a higher price than is obtained for any 

 other kind of timber in the place where it grows. It has been used from 

 time immemorial for water-pipes, or troughs, for conveying the water of the 

 salt springs to the large boxes, or pans, where the watery particles are eva- 

 porated by the heat of the sun or by fire, and the salt deposited ; and, as it 



