TREES GROWING IN MOIST SOIL. 



131 



that it developed every year a crop of seven millions of leaves, 

 and that they exposed to the air a surface of foliage equal to 

 about five acres. 



On the banks of the Delaware there stood also a famous elm 

 tree. Under its branches William Penn made his treaty with 

 the Indians. It was not for lands, but for peace and friend- 

 ship. On March 3d, 1810, "The Treaty Tree," as the elm was 

 called, was prostrated by a storm. Its consecutive rings proved 

 it to be over two hundred and eighty-three years old. On 

 its site a monument with a suitable inscription was erected by 

 the Penn society. 



The elms are dioecious ; their staminate and pistillate blos- 

 soms grow on different trees, or, to use the popular but erro- 

 neous expression, they are male and female. From each other 

 the two can be readily distinguished. The bud-scales of the 

 elms with their fringed margins and tufts of soft, white hairs 

 are very pretty. Very early in the spring they blow about 

 and often tint the ground while the flowers that have sprung 

 from them are unfolding. 



The wood of the American elm is rather coarsely grained, 

 hard and heavy. Its medullary rays and its large open ducts 

 are conspicuous. For the making of small articles, floors, and 

 in ship building, it is very useful. The Indians occasionally 

 substituted its bark for that of birch when building their canoes. 

 It is to be lamented that so much damage is inflicted upon 

 these trees by insects and that their beauty is thus often 

 marred. Throughout New England, where the elms have con- 

 tributed so much to the beauty of the towns, it is quite pathetic 

 to see so many in a dilapidated condition. When planted the 

 tree requires soil where it can imbibe abundant moisture, and 

 to be away from the shade of other trees. It is very rapid of 

 growth. 



