302 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
ment, and must get all their nutriment from a distance on one 
side, beyond a heavy wall. A differently constructed gutter, 
allowing the water and drainings of the street to penetrate, 
would doubtless quicken their growth. 
The noblest and most beautiful English elms in this vicinity 
are found on the grounds of the country residence of Henry 
Codman, Esq., in Roxbury. "The largest stands by the princi- 
pal gate in front. At three feet from the ground, it measures 
seventeen feet and five inches; at five feet, fifteen feet ten 
inches. It has lost several of its lower limbs, and with them 
much of its beauty; but 11 holds its size fully to the height of 
twenty or twenty-five feet, where it divides into three large 
branches, the main, central one of which, rises upwards to a 
height much above one hundred feet, perhaps to one hundred 
and twenty or one hundred and twenty-five. Another, stand- 
ing on the lawn, within the enclosure, has nearly the same ele- 
vation, with a girth of twelve feet cight inches at three feet, 
and eleven feet seven at five. Several trees of the same kind 
in the rear of the house are known to have been planted in 1796, 
so that they have now been planted nearly fifty years. The 
largest and most northerly of these measures eight feet cleven 
inches at three feet from the ground. 'T'wo others, being the 
most westerly ones, have each a girth of seven feet ten inches 
at three feet. ‘The largest of these has thus made an annual 
growth of more than two inches annually, and the others but 
little less. All these trees are favorably situated, in the midst 
of highly cultivated grounds, and the last mentioned grow in a 
moist situation near a never failing stream. 
The uses of this tree in England and on the continent of Lu- 
rope, are very numerous. Its wood is of a brownish color, and 
is hard and fine grained, and of great lateral adhesion, and it is 
little hable to crack or split when exposed to sun or weather. 
It is therefore much employed for ship’s blocks, and other 
wooden parts of the rigging. It is also remarkable for its dura- 
bility in water. Itis employed for the keels of large ships, and 
for pumps, water-pipes and troughs; for mills and water-whceels, 
piles, ship-planks beneath the water line; also for gates and 
raus, the knotty for hubs of wheels, the straight and smooth 
