ELM FAMILY 
ing closely to the twig as they do they ‘ave little independent 
motion but move with the branch. An elm leaf can be easily 
recognized by its unequal base, the part of the leaf on one 
side of the midrib is considerably larger than that upon the 
other. Although a fa- 
vorite city shade tree 
the elm does not thrive 
where soft coal is habit- 
ually burned. The rough 
leaves catch the soot 
which sticks fast, seems 
to smother the trees, and 
in time destroys them. 
One who recognizes it 
only in leaf does not 
really know a deciduous 
tree, for it is when stripped like an athlete for its contest 
with the winds and storms of winter, that it discloses the 
secret of its grace, its weakness, or its strength. No tree 
endures this test better than the elm and its typical form is 
so marked that it can be easily recognized even at night 
when outlined against the sky. 
A peculiar characteristic of the wood is the wonderful 
twisting and interlacing of its fibres which give itan exceed- 
ing toughness. A characteristic immortalized by Oliver 
Wendell Holmes in ‘“‘ The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay.” 
Unfolding Leaves of White Elm, Ulmus americana. 
The hubs of logs from the “ Settler's ellum," 
Last of its timber,—they couldn't sell ‘em, 
Never an axe had seen their chips, 
And the wedges flew from between their lips, 
Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips. 
The Elms are an ancient race; traces of them exist in 
the tertiary rocks of Greenland, and in the miocene pe- 
riod they flourished in Europe, western Asia and North 
America, 
A few elm trees have become historic, either because of 
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