1404- ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Varieties. In consequence of U. glabra ripening seeds in different parts of 

 England, many varieties have been raised from it, most of which are distin- 

 guished by great rapidity of growth. From the specimens that have been 

 sent to us from the Canterbury, Huntingdon, and other nurseries, and also 

 from the trees in the Horticultural Society's Garden, it is difficult to de- 

 termine, in every case, whether the varieties of U. (m.) glabra are not nearer 

 to U. mo.itana or U. americana, than to that sub-species ; and, in some in- 

 stances, they appear to partake of the character of U. campestris and U. 

 (c.) suberosa. T. A. Knight, Esq., informs us that from seeds of one variety 

 of U. (m.) glabra, viz. the Downton elm, which were ripened in the cold 

 climate of that part of Shropshire, he " raised plants which are so perfectly 

 similar to the U. suberosa, and which approximate so nearly to the character 

 of the U. glabra, that " he does " not doubt but that the U. campestris, U. 

 suberosa, U. glabra, and three or four other varieties which " he has " seen 

 in different parts of England, are all varieties only of the same species." 



A. Timber Trees. 



t U. (m.} g. 1 vuJgaris. The common smooth-leaved Elm. 



U. 0.)g. 2 vegeta; U. montana vegeta in the Horticultural Society's 

 Garden; U. americana Masters. The Huntingdon Elm, the Chichester 

 Elm, the American Elm in some places, and, perhaps, the Scampston 

 Elm. This is by far the most vigorous-growing kind of elrn propa- 

 gated in British nurseries, often making snoots from 6ft. to 10ft. in 

 length in one season ; and the tree attaining the height of upwards of 

 30 ft. in 10 years from the graft. Having written to Huntingdon, Chi- 

 chester, York, Newcastle, and various other places, respecting this 

 elm, we have received the following information from Mr. John 

 Wood, nurseryman, near Huntingdon, dated November, 1836. " The 

 Huntingdon elm," he says, " was raised here about 80 or 90 years 

 ago, by an uncle of mine, from seed collected in this neighbourhood. 

 I have sent many plants of it all over the country ; and it has been 

 given out from Norwich, Bristol, and other places, under the name 

 of the Chichester elm ; but you may rely on my word that the Chi- 

 chester elm and the Huntingdon elm are one and the same thing. 

 The tree is the fastest grower, and produces the best timber, of all 

 the elms. I have lately cut down some trees planted about 40 years 

 ago, and have used the planks in various ways in house-building." 

 The young shoots of this elm sent to us by Mr. Wood were 9 ft. 

 long; and those sent to us by Mr. Masters, under the name of the 

 American elm, which he considers as a synonyme to the Hunting- 

 don elm, were about the same length. We also observed that the 

 shoots of U. campestris alba Masters, and of U. c. acutifolia Mas- 

 ters, strongly resemble those of the Huntingdon elm. The tree 

 marked as the Huntingdon elm in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 

 den was, in 1834, 35ft. high, after being 10 years planted. 



If U. (m.) g. 3 var. The Scampston Elm. The earliest notice which 

 we can find of this tree is in the Agricultural Report for the County 

 of Durham, published in 1810; and in which it is said that the 

 Scampston elm comes from a place of that name in Yorkshire, but 

 is supposed to be originally from America. It is said to be a plant 

 of wonderfully quick growth, having made shoots from grafts, in one 

 year, of 5 ft. or 6 ft. in length. From the tree bearing this name in 

 the Horticultural Society's Garden, which, in 1834, was 18ft. high, 

 after being 8 years planted, it is clearly some variety of U. glabra, 

 and very little different from the species. 



^ U. (m.} g. 4 major, U. glabra major Hort. Dur., the Canterbury Seedling, 

 is of more vigorous growth than the species, and, indeed, is a rival 

 to U. americana and the Huntingdon elm, in quickness of growth. 



