i6o TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 



Wych Elm, and is found growing in this country under 

 the same conditions of soil, aspect, &c. 



The wood is somewhat darker in colour than the 

 Wych, is tough, hard, and of the same porous and 

 flexible character, but being more frequently subject to 

 star-shake, it is considered to be an inferior variety, and 

 is consequently less sought after. It is not generally so 

 suitable for boat-board as the Wych Elm, but for any 

 ordinary purpose it might be used as a substitute for 

 either of the other kinds. In commerce it is known as 

 the Dutch or Sand Elm. 



The English Elm trees, of which several varieties are 

 sometimes distinguished, are remarkable as being 

 among the first in leaf in the spring, and the latest in 

 shedding them in autumn. 



HORNBEAM {Carpinus Betulus) 



is an indigenous British tree, which grows even upon 

 a comparatively poor soil, and attains the height of 40 

 to JO feet with a circumference of from 30 to 45 inches. 



The wood is yellowish-white in colour, close in the 

 grain, hard, tough, strong, and of moderate weight ; its 

 pores are minute, the medullary rays are plainly marked, 

 and there is no distinguishable sap or alburnum ; it may, 

 therefore, be worked up to great advantage. Hence we 

 find it employed for a variety of purposes ; it is useful 

 in husbandry, and agricultural implements made of the 

 sound and healthy wood wear well, as it stands exposure 

 without being much affected by it. It is also used by 

 engineers for cogs in machinery, a purpose for which it 

 is well suited. 



The Hornbeam tree, if pollarded, becomes blackish 

 in colour at the centre, owing to the admission of ex- 



