1 886 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



One of the tallest I know which may be referred to U. major is a tree in the 

 heronry at Dallam Tower, Westmoreland, which, being drawn up in a thick wood, 

 has attained a height of about 130 ft., and is clear of branches for 60 or 70 ft. ; but 

 is only 10 ft. in girth. A very large tree grows by the lake at Dodington Park, 

 Gloucestershire; the main trunk, 22 ft. in girth, is broken, but a branch remains 

 which, in 1 9 10, was 115 ft. high; the branchlets are very corky. A tree at Laver- 

 stoke Park, Hants, 113 ft. by 18 ft., is of a superior type to the common Dutch 

 elm, and may be one of the hybrids. There are trees of U. major at Hampton 

 Court, some of large size ; at Syon ; at Aldenham, a large tree on the east front of 

 the house ; at Beaulieu Abbey ; and at many places in the south of England. 



Many of the large elms in Kew Gardens belong to this species, and one, which 

 was felled in December 191 1, was 91 ft. high by 13 ft. 5 in. in girth. Mr. Bean 

 counted on the stump about one hundred and fifty rings, so that this tree was 

 probably planted about 1759, when the botanic garden was formed at Kew. 



There are many Dutch elms at Boughton ; and I was assured by Mr. Neil, the 

 forester here, that their timber is as good as that of the English elm. It is gener- 

 ally believed by carpenters and wheelwrights to have much more brittle and less 

 valuable timber than the redder wood of the English elm. 



Many elms in the eastern counties belong to this species ; and though there 

 are some fine true English elms in Essex, yet near the coast of this county, and in 

 Suffolk and Norfolk, we rarely see an elm of large size, which does not seem to be 

 U. major. On light and sandy soils it is a scrubby tree, and does not carry its 

 leaves so late or turn such a bright colour in autumn as the English elm. 



The avenue of elm at Castle Howard in Yorkshire, which is perhaps the best 

 I know so far north, appears to be, and is considered by Mr. Fell, the forester 

 there, to be, of this type, which in some parts of England is often called by 

 carpenters a " bastard " elm. 



Boutcher says ^ that in order to get the true variety he imported it from Rotter- 

 dam, to make the mother plants of those he raised in his nursery ; and adds that 

 though inferior in beauty and elegance of form, to what he calls the French elm,^ 

 it is still a very valuable tree in the climate of Scotland, as "it will succeed in 

 wet obstinate clay, where no tree I know of equal use, and few but aquatics, will 

 grow freely ; but in such places it will soon become a stately tree, and though the 

 wood is not equal to the other mentioned kinds, it is still a useful wood, and is often 

 indiscriminately sold to the carpenter with them from their near resemblance." 



In all probability Boutcher here referred to the hybrid elm, U. belgica, which 

 was cultivated then in Holland ; but we have had no specimens from Scotland that 

 can be referred to this. True U. major is rare in Scotland, where most of the elms 

 which are not U. montana are U. nitens of French origin.^ 



In Ireland U. major is the common form in some parts of the country. Many 

 of the elms in the Phoenix Park seem to be Dutch elms, but I have not examined 

 them carefully. It occurs at Loughrea, Co. Galway, and is common at Lismore 

 in the Blackwater valley, Co. Waterford. Here it is known to timber merchants as 



1 Treatise on Forest Trees, 19 (,775). 2 cf. p. ,897, last paragraph. 



