39 



ing in front of the house. The noble tree in the centre in 190& 

 measured 130ft., with a girth of 17ft. ioin. 



The Wych elm is widely distributed throughout Ireland and 

 Scotland, and occurs in coppices and woods on hilly ground in 

 most parts of England. It can easily be distinguished from the 

 common elm by the fact that it throws up no suckers from the 

 roots, and by the very short, stout, densely-hairy stalk to the 

 leaves. It) regularly produces abundant seed. There is a weeping 

 Wych elm, much planted as an ornamental tree. There are also- 

 v eeping hybrids, such as the Huntingdon elm, the Dutch elm, and 

 the Downton elm. In the King's Park Road (running parallel to the 

 Boscombe Cemetery) and in the Grand Avenue at Southbourne 

 there are very promising young, trees of a variety of the Cornish 

 elm. This is probably the variety Wheatleyi, which is described 

 by Mr. Bean as admirably suited for street planting; as it retains 

 without artificial aid the slender tapering form essential for beauty 

 and symmetry in all avenue trees. A large tree of Wych elm 

 growing by the dairy at Wrackleford, Dorset, measures 14ft. in 

 girth. 



Ash. 



Although the ash is common in woodlands on chalk in 

 association with the pedunculate oak and the beech, also on some- 

 clay formations, large trees are not generally met with- in this 

 district. Where planted and placed under favourable conditions 

 the ash flourishes with great vigour. One of the largest ash trees 

 I have met with is in a dell at Merly House, near Wimborne. 

 Its girth is 19ft. 6in. As it has been pollarded at 10ft. its height 

 is not considerable. The tallest ash measured by Mr. Elwes in 

 1907 stood 146ft. high and was 12ft. 7m. in girth at 5ft. This 

 noble tree was growing at Cobham, in Kent. Sir Herbert Max- 

 well claims that there is no broad-leaved or hard-wood tree that 

 can be so profitably cultivated as the ash. The properties which 

 ensure this are its " hardihood, the matchless quality of its tim- 

 ber for many purposes, and its market value from an early age." 

 The Scots hold the ash in special favour inasmuch as it furnished 

 staves for their national weapon, the pike. For gardens there 

 is a Golden Bark ash and a weeping variety of the same. Also 

 a curious one-leaved ash (F. monophylla). The best of the in- 

 troduced species of ash is the Manna ash (Fraxinns Ornns) which 

 is specially desirable for ornamental planting. It produces a pro- 

 fusion of creamv white plumes of blossom in June. A moderately 

 large tree of this was lately seen at Merly House. 



Poplar. 



There are three species of poplars native of Britain, Tenny- 

 son's verse — 



" Hard by a poplar shook alwav, 

 All silver green with gnarled bark, 

 For leagues no other tree did mark 

 The level waste, the rounding gray " 



