338 The Scotch or Wych Elm. 



the prey of a horde of lice which destroy the beauty of the 

 foHage. 



In the hands of an industrious gardener or energetic ama- 

 teur these trees, it is true, cari be kept in fine order, and in a 

 complete garden or grounds none of them can well be dis- 

 pensed with ; but where gardens are small, the labor lim- 

 , ited, and neatness and thrifty growth an object, nothing but 

 constant watching, care, attention and hard work will render 

 them anything but unsightly things. 



These remarks are just now suggested by the late attack of a 

 small worm, which has devastated many gardens, and ravaged 

 without much regard to kind, nearly every tree and shrub, 

 except evergreens, in some localities. Even the oak, hereto- 

 fore almost free from the insects so injurious to other trees, 

 has been more severely attacked than many others. Whether 

 this insect is to remain a perpetual comer with the return of 

 each season remains to be seen ; but if it is, it will be a de- 

 structive and formidable one to destroy. 



In our grounds we have not felt the effects of it, so badly 

 as many of our neighbors, the oaks being the only trees 

 which were much eaten ; the canker-worms had just finished 

 their labors and perhaps had so thoroughly eaten up some 

 kinds, that the natural instinct of the new worm led it to cut 

 us altogether and locate elsewhere. We are not sorry, and 

 hope we may never feel more of its effects than we have al- 

 ready experienced ; but if it is to come again we are glad to 

 know there is one tree which is proof both against it and the 

 vile canker-worm ; this is the Scotch elm. We have a group 

 of oaks, hornbeams, and Scotch elms, standing near a large 

 Baldwin apple tree ; every year the hornbeams and apple are 

 badly eaten by the canker, and Avould be, but for constant 

 care, quite devoured by them ; the Scotch elm has never had 

 a leaf touched, and now looks as beautiful and fresh as if no 

 insect ever lived ; perhaps, as it has obtained the name of 

 Wych elm, from its resemblance to the Wych hazel, it is 

 equally as great a preservative against insects as the hazel is 

 against witches. It is certainly remarkable to see all the 

 other elms, of which we have at least ten varieties or species, 

 attacked and the Scotch perfectly exempt. The beautiful 



