2 66 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



THE GREATER TREES OF THE 

 NORTHERN FOREST.— No. 18. 

 THE FIELD ELM(U/mus campestris). 

 The Field Elm is the most stately tree 

 in the plains and valleys of Britain and 

 western Europe, and one of the most 

 popular too, owing to its easy increase 

 and rapid growth, but one that in our 

 country should never be planted, as it 

 commonly is, in avenues, beside roads, 

 or near houses and out-buildings. In 

 such places it is much better to have 

 firmly-rooted trees like the Ash, Beech, 

 and Pine, that can be depended upon in 

 storms. With the Elm there is always 

 the danger, even in fine weather, of 

 boughs falling with fatal consequences 

 to men or animals, and there is the dis- 

 aster which results from heavy rain- 

 storms and floods sweeping over the 

 country, desolating whole valleys, and 

 as a consequence so glutting the market 

 with the trees blown down that their 

 numbers often prevent any fair prices be- 

 ing realised .Two or three years ago when 

 driving through the beautiful country 

 of West Sussex I came to the village of 

 Stoke, nearChichester; there was a scene 

 of tree ruin, nearly all the lordly Elms 

 near the village thrown down and banks 

 and roads torn up. Such scenes are only 

 too common in our rich valleys after 

 storms, and therefore it is not advisable 

 to plant this tree close to any human 

 habitation or beside roads and pathways. 

 Of its value there can be no question, 

 birt the right place for the Elm is the 

 heart of the wood, or in alluvial or free 

 soils and loams, where one gets the best 

 results, and it is quite out of harm's way. 

 As a forest tree we should get its strength 



expressed in a bolder way than when 

 isolated as it so often is, and it is also 

 out of danger in groups in parks like 

 Spetchley. 



Though often low in price 

 Wood. . to , r r r 1t 



owing to the frequent falls 



of trees during storms, the wood of the 

 Field Elm has good and varied uses, 

 and may be and is often employed for 

 purposes which generally the Oak is 

 thought best for, as, for example, floor- 

 ing and weather-boarding. It is better 

 in quality than that of the Mountain 

 Elm. It is hard, elastic, extremely tena- 

 cious, not liable to crack, and as last- 

 ing as Oak. It is specially useful in 

 damp places like cellars, mines, &c. By 

 wheelwrights it is used for the felloes 

 of wheels, and in time of war well- 

 seasoned Elm wood commands a high 

 price, being much in use for gun car- 

 riages. The heart wood is abundant 

 and is composed of many layers, though 

 fewer in number as the vegetation is the 

 more active. It yields four times as much 

 ash as the Beech and contains twice 

 the amount of potash, and the same re- 

 mark applies to the leaves. Next to the 

 Lime the inner bark of the Elm is the 

 most fibrous and the most tenacious 

 and lasting,which makes it most suitable 

 for matting and rope-making. Before 

 the taste for cast-iron and earthenware 

 arose the wood was used extensively in 

 London for pipes for conveying water 

 to the houses, and it is a common thing 

 when making changes in old streets for 

 Elm wood pipes to be dug up, little the 

 worse for having been so long under- 

 ground. 



The Elm is a native of central and 



t 



