Ulmus 1 86 1 



other Eastern American trees, as white oak and black ash, is totally unsuitable for 

 our climate. fjs^^ j^ \ 



Plants at Colesborne, received from Meehan in 1903, have succeeded better, 

 though this may be only for a time. These are now about 14 ft. high, and show the 

 characteristic corky branches, but bear leaves much smaller in size and with fewer 

 nerves than those on adult trees in America. This small foliage is probably charac- 

 teristic of the juvenile stage in the life of the tree, and matches a branch which I 

 gathered at Ottawa. In France the tree seems to thrive no better, the only specimen 

 which I have seen being a poor tree at Segrez, and it does not exist in the National 

 Arboretum at Lea Barres. 



Timber 



Macoun^ says: — "The rock elm grows in southern Quebec and westward to 

 Lake Superior, being best developed in south Ontario, to which part of Canada it is, 

 as a commercial wood, now confined. It is much superior to the other elms, and for 

 many purposes unequalled by any other wood. It is tough, strong, elastic, and very 

 heavy. Its chief use is in the manufacture of agricultural implements, bicycle rims, 

 and wheel stock. It is largely used in bridge- and ship-building and for heavy 

 furniture. When highly polished the wood is very beautiful, and repays a greater 

 expenditure of time in polishing than is usually given to elm." 



Known in the trade as Canada rock elm, this wood long had a high reputation 

 among ship- and boat-builders, perhaps, because it was grown very slowly in dense 

 forests, and free from knots and defects. A large quantity of elm still comes under 

 this name to the Liverpool and London importers, but it is difficult to say what 

 proportion of it is genuine rock elm. 



Laslett^ gives a good account of its properties and resistance to transverse, 

 tensile, and crushing strains from experiments made by him in the Royal Dockyards, 

 where in his time 600 to 700 loads were annually used for garboards and 

 planking on account of its durability under water, and for ladder-steps and gratings 

 on account of its clean whitish appearance. Laslett said that it was one of the 

 slowest grown woods he knew of, making only i in. in diameter in fourteen years. 

 I have seen in the yard of Messrs. White and Company, the well-known boat- and 

 yacht-builders of Cowes, a square log 59 ft. long and only 9I in. square at 56 ft. 

 from the butt, in which with a lens upwards of 250 annual growths could be counted. 

 This was being cut into gunwales for boats. The wood is also used by makers of 

 agricultural implements in this country, who complain of the difficulty of getting it of 

 reliable quality. As the supply of the genuine slow-grown rock elm seems to be 

 rapidly diminishing, whilst logs of good size are now worth 3s. 6d. per foot and upwards, 

 it seems as though a substitute must be sought for, and may be found in home-grown 

 wych elm if this was closely crowded on suitable land. (H. J. E.) 



1 Forest Wealth of Canada, 24 (1900). 

 2 Timber and Timber Trees, 225 (1875), where the rock elm of Canada is erroneously named U. americana. 



VII 2^ 



