Ulmus 1909 



has grown in hedgerows from the earliest historical times in great abundance, and has 

 propagated itself by suckers only. We can distinguish it from the other elms by its 

 erect habit, by the rarity of suberose branches, by its dark red heartwood, and 

 especially by the late period to which it holds its leaves, and by the bright golden 

 colour which they assume, in seasons when the elms of all other varities are com- 

 paratively dull in colour. This latter character is constant on all soils and, so far 

 back as I can remember, in all seasons. Two reasons may be suggested to account 

 for its rarely producing seed. One is that reproduction by suckers during a very 

 long period has diminished its floral fertility.^ The other that, being here at 

 the northern limit of its range (if it is a true native of Spain), the seasons are 

 rarely warm enough. Whatever may be its origin, it is one of the finest and 

 most characteristic trees of those parts of England where it thrives; and both 

 from its economic and ornamental value deserves to be propagated in the only 

 way it can be kept true, either by suckers or by layers from stocks of the 

 best type. 



So far as we know there is no nursery in this country which has so produced it 

 for many years past, and the results are only too evident in the elms which are now 

 growing in almost all modern places. Soil no doubt has a material influence on the 

 growth of this as of other trees, and a rather heavy and deep soil is necessary to 

 bring it to perfection, but even on the thin dry oolite of the Cotswold hills, the 

 true English elm retains its characteristics, and though slower in growth attains 

 a greater height and bulk than any other tree, except perhaps the beech and the 

 wych elm. 



Its true value as a landscape tree may be best estimated by looking down 

 from an eminence in almost any part of the valley of the Thames, or of the Severn 

 below Worcester, during the latter half of November, when the bright golden colour 

 of the lines of elms in the hedgerows, is one of the most striking scenes that England 

 can produce. 



Its economic value is also much greater than has been generally realised, for a 

 tree that will, on grassland, of only moderate quality, without detriment to the 

 adjoining pasture, and without any outlay but a moderate attention in trimming 

 the lower branches, produce a log worth from £4 to £5 in a hundred years 

 or less, cannot be ignored as an important element in the value of all greizing 

 districts. 



No author that I know has written on the propagation of the elm with so much 

 personal knowledge as William Boutcher, nurseryman at Comely Garden, Edinburgh 

 (now Comely Bank Nursery), whose Treatise on Forest Trees, first published in 1775, 

 contains more exact observation on nursery work than most recent books. The elm 

 was a great favourite of his, and I believe that if his advice had been more generally 

 followed, the elms produced during the last century by nurserymen would be much 

 finer than they generally are. Though observant woodmen know that the best and 



"^ This is very unlikely, as the English elm in Spain produces ripe and fertile seed in abundance, yet suckers there very 

 freely. Moreover, U. nitens, which suckers quite as much as the English elm, produces good seed in abundance in favourable 

 years. 



VII 2L 



