Zelkova 923 



This species ^ has been planted pure in small experimental plots at five different 

 forestry stations in Germany ; but the results have not been encouraging. Both 

 Schwappach and Mayr consider that it probably would succeed if planted in mixture 

 with other hardwood trees. 



In the Botanic Garden at Copenhagen, Henry saw, in 1908, a fine tree, about 

 40 feet high, but dividing into three stems at 2 feet from the ground. This tree was 

 planted about 1870, and exceeds considerably in size a Z. crenata planted beside it 

 the same year. At Christiania, Z. acuminata remains a bush about a foot high, 

 being repeatedly cut by frost. 



The largest specimens in the United States are two trees, growing in Dr. Hall's 

 gardens at Warren, Rhode Island, which were raised from seed sent home in 1862. 

 According to Sargent,^ who says that this species is probably the only Japanese 

 tree worth introducing into North America, on a large scale for timber, these 

 have received no special care, the soil is not particularly good, and their 

 growth has been checked by overcrowding. They were about 50 feet high in 1893, 

 with trunks about a foot in diameter, and had produced flowers and fruit. There 

 appear^ to be several other trees of this species in the same garden, and hundreds 

 of self-sown seedlings were observed near them in 1893. The only drawback * to 

 the cultivation of this species in America is that it is subject to the attack of the 

 elm-leaf beetle. 



Timber 



The wood ^ resembles in structure that of the elm, the vessels being disposed in 

 similar broken lines. The sap wood, according to Mayr, about i^ inch in thickness, 

 and white in colour, is separated from the brown heartwood by a narrow pink zone. 

 According to Dupont,® the wood, while like that of the elm in appearance, is more 

 like the ash in working, as it bends readily, and is of great strength, surpassing even 

 the oak in this quality. It resists exposure to moisture, and is very durable for 

 building purposes. It is much used in Japan for making furniture, an especial kind, 

 cut from burrs, and called jo-rin-moku, being especially esteemed. The most 

 beautiful trays and cabinets '^ which come from Japan are made of dark, irregularly 

 grained, and wavy-lined wood of the Zelkova. Many of these trays are ornamented 

 with the bark of Pterocarya. Dupont says that the wood contains an oil, with a 

 disagreeable odour, which prevents it from being made into articles used for con- 

 taining liquids. 



The wood is the most valuable in Japan for building, for furniture, and for all 

 purposes where a strong, tough, durable wood, not liable to warp, crack, or decay, 

 is required ; and it is also valuable for carving and lacquering. It is the highest 

 priced wood in Japan, worth in ordinary sizes up to 4s. per cubic foot, and for finely 

 grained or very wide planks much more. I was told that a single large plank of 



' Schwappach, Anbauversziche mit Fremdldndischen Hoharten, "j^ (1901). 

 * Garden and Forest, vi. 324 (1893). ' ^^- 468. ■• Ibid. 369. 



' Figured in Mayr, op. cit. t. xx. fig. 44. ^ Ess. Forest, du Japan, 45 (1879). 



' Sargent, Garden and Forest, x. 40 (1879). 



