OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



219 



The elm naturally grows up- 

 right ; and when it meets with 

 i 



597. 



a soil it loves, rises higher than 

 the generality of trees ; and after 



2 



598. 



it has assumed the dignity and 

 hoary roughness of age, few trees 



excel it in grandeur. It is the 

 first tree that salutes the early 

 spring with its light and cheerful 

 green — a tint which contrasts 

 agreeably with the oak, whose 

 early leaf has generally more of 

 an olive cast. We see them 

 sometimes in fine harmony toge- 

 ther, about the end of April and 

 the beginning of May. In au- 

 tumn, also, the yellow leaf of the 

 elm mixes as kindly with the 

 orange of the beech, the ochre of 

 the oak, and many other fading 

 hues of the wood.* 



The foliage of the elm, though 

 massive and thick, and affording 

 an almost impenetrable shade, 

 never appears heavy to the eye, 

 like that of the horse chestnut. 

 : or the sycamore ; this is owing 

 | to the lightness of the spray, 

 j the comparative smallness of the 

 leaves, and the loose, free, man- 

 ner in which they hang.f 



The oak, the ash, and the elm, are commonly 

 dignified in our English woods as a distinct 

 class, by the title of timber trees. Elm wood is of 

 a brownish colour, and is hard and fine-grained. 

 In ship building it is valuable for forming the 

 blocks and dead eyes, and other wooden furniture 

 of the rigging, being particularly suitable for 

 these purposes from its hard and adhesive 

 nature, and indisposition to crack or split when 

 exposed to the sun, or severe weather. 



The great use of the elm for ship-building, is, 

 however, for keels. It is also used for the naves 

 of wheels, coffins, &c. The leaves and young 

 shoots were used by the Romans as food for 

 cattle, and they are still so employed in many 

 parts of France. They have in some places 

 been given to silk-worms ; and, in both France 

 and Norway, they are boiled, to serve as food for 

 pigs. In Russia, the leaves of one of the varie- 

 ties are used as tea. The bark is sometimes 

 employed as an astringent medicine ; and the 

 inner bark, for making bast mats and ropes. 



Galls, or small bladders, are produced on the 

 leaves of the elnl, by the puncture of some kind 

 of insect. These galls contain some drops of a 

 liquid which is called elm balm, and was 

 formerly employed for the cure of wounds. 



Many kinds of insects will be 

 found upon the elm ; among 



• Gil pin's Forest Scenery. 



t Selby'a History cf Eri'tish Tress. 



