336 THE ELM. 
but it is often found much higher when interspersed with 
taller-growing trees. It does not produce suckers like the 
English elm, but it yields seed freely. Its propagation from 
seed has given rise to several fine kinds, which are propagated 
for their various peculiarities. In Britain none of this species 
have, as in the case of U. campestris, degenerated so far as to be 
unfit for cultivation as timber trees. 
The blossoms of the U. montana appear in April, just before 
the leaves expand, and the seeds are usually ripe about the 
middle of June, when they should be gathered and immediately 
sown in rich, clean, friable soil. The beds should be four feet 
broad, and a bushel of seeds is commonly sufficient for twelve 
lineal yards of a bed; but as the seeds are very often so un- 
equal in quality that one half are not possessed of the power 
of germinating, the quantity on a given space must be regulated 
by the judgment of the individual who conducts the work, 
who should try what proportion of seeds are well filled, and 
aim at raising the plants about two inches apart. The cover 
on the seeds should be about half an inch deep, and in dry 
weather the beds should be watered and shaded. The plants 
often appear in a week after sowing, and then the shading is 
discontinued ; they require no further care but to be kept 
clear of weeds during the summer. 
In the following winter, or early in spring, they may be 
removed into nursery lines; but when they do not stand too 
close in the seed-bed, they are frequently allowed to remain 
for two summers before being removed. The distance between 
the plants in the lines should be six inches, and that between 
the lines eighteen inches. Two years is the usual time that 
the plants remain in the lines; if allowed to stand much 
longer without being disturbed, the roots of this species are 
apt to get bare, after which the plant becomes stunted on 
being transplanted. The tree will grow rapidly, and yield 
heavy timber in a rich deep soil only, and it prefers an open 
subsoil. Where water stagnates near the surface, its growth 
becomes feeble, and lichen overspreads its bark. 
The period at which pruning is most frequently of advan- 
