FOREST TREES. 19 



CHAPTER 11. 



The Elm.— English Elm.— Scotch Elm.— Slippery Elm.— American Elm. — 

 Superiority of latter. — Different Shapes, how accounted for. — Great Elm 

 on Boston Common — Rapidity of Growth. — The Riding Stick. — Remark- 

 able Dimensions of noted Trees. — Boston Elm again — Its Age — By whom 

 set out. — Washington Elm, why so named. — " Trees of Peace," a Tribute 

 of Respect. — English Elm in England and America. — Uses in France — 

 In Russia. — Birch Family — Its Variety and Uses. — The Maple Family. — 

 Number of Species. — Red Maple. — Unrivaled Beauty of American For- 

 ests. — Rock Maple — Amount of Wood cut from one in Blanford. — Curious 

 method of distinguishing it from the River Maple. — Amount and Value of 

 the Sugar in Massachusetts. — Great Product from one Tree. — Sugar Maple 

 in the State of Maine. — Dr. Jackson's Reports, &c. 



THE ELMTREE, 



Of this family there are several varieties. The American, the 

 English, the Scotch, and Slippery Elm. Of this enumeration, the 

 American Elm stands first in point of ornament, while the tim- 

 ber of the English Elm is esteemed more highly on account of 

 the toughness of the wood. 



It has been well said that the Elm is a tree deservedly esteem- 

 ed for its ornament and shade. " The American Elm assumes 

 many different shapes, and all of them beautiful. Of these, three 

 are most striking and distinct. The tall Etruscan vase is formed 

 by four or five limbs separating at twenty or thirty feet from the 

 ground, going up with a gradual divergency to sixty or seventy, 

 and then bending rapidly outward, forming a flat top with a pend- 

 ent border." " Transplanting the Elm, it is said, often produces 

 in it a character akin to that of the Oak. It is then a broad, 

 round-headed tree." " Of tliis kind is the ' Great Elm' on Bos- 

 ton Common." 



