56 
COMMON EUROPEAN ELM. 
The leaves of the Common Elm are oblong, pointed, doubly serrate and 
unequal at the base. The flowers appear in the beginning of March, about 
three weeks before the leaves ; they are small, reddish, not conspicuous, 
and are united in clusters on the shoots of the preceding year ; they are 
succeeded by oval, bordered capsules, containing a single flat, roundish 
seed, which varies in size in different varieties, and is ripe toward the end 
of April. 
The wood of the Elm has less strength than the Oak, and less elasticity 
than the Ash, but it is tougher and less liable to split. In France, it is 
usually employed for mounting artillery, and for this purpose is selected 
with the greatest care. The trees are cut according to the use to which 
they 'are destined, and the pieces are stored under shelter to dry during 
six or seven years ; the precaution is even observed of turning them every 
six months, that the seasoning may proceed more uniformly. Thus per- 
fected the wood is used for the carriages of cannon, and for the gunwale, 
the blocks, etc., of ships. It is everywhere preferred by wheel-wrights for 
the naves and fellies of wheels and for other objects. 
The quality of this wood depends in a singular degree on the situation 
in which it grows : high ground and a strong soil are necessary to its per- 
fection ; and when planted in such a soil on the side of roads, or on the 
ramparts of fortified towns, where it is vexed by the winds and exposed to 
all the influences of the seasons, it is firmer and more solid. 
The knobs which grow upon old trunks are divided into thin plates by 
cabinet-makers, and when polished they exhibit very diversified accidents 
in the arrangements of the fibre, and form beautiful articles of furniture. 
Well-cords are made of the bark of the Elm; the wood is an excellent 
combustible, and in some countries the leaves are given for food to sheep 
and larger cattle. 
In fertile and humid soils the Elm is subject to a species of ulceration 
which appears on the body of the tree at the height of 3 or 4 feet, and 
which discharges a great quantity of sap. The disease penetrates gradu- 
ally into the interior of the tree and corrupts its substance. Many attempts 
have been made to cure it in the beginning or to arrest its progress, but 
hitherto without success : the best treatment is to pierce the tree to the 
depth of 2 or 3 inches with an auger, in the very heart of the malady, 
which is declared by the flowing of the sap.* 
The English writers on forest trees, Evelyn, Miller, Marshall, etc., men- 
tion twenty varieties of the Elm, seven of which are particularly remarkable 
and may serve as types of the rest ; these are the true English Elm, the 
narrow-leaved Cornish Elm, the Dutch Elm, the black Worcestershire Elm, 
* [Another mode of treatment recommended is to pierce the ulcer, and then dress the wound 
with powdered charcoal, or a mixture of cow-dung and clay.] 
