126 
ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 
TULIP TREE. 
This tree, which surpasses most others of North America in height and beauty 
of its foliage and flower, is one of the most interesting from the numerous and 
useful applications of its wood. It is a native of the United States, though the 
western States appear to be its natural soil, and it is there it displays its most 
powerful vegetation. 
It has a stem, sometimes from ioo to 140 feet in height and three feet thick, 
with a grayish-brown cracked bark, and many gnarled and easily broken 
branches. The leaves are roundish, ovate and three-lobed. The flowers are 
solitary at the extremities of the brancnlets, are la^ge, brilliant, variegated with 
different colors, have an agreeable odor, and are very numerous on detached 
trees, producing a fine effect. The flowers bloom in June or July. 
The fruit is composed of a great number of thin narrow scales attached to a 
common axis, and forming a cone two or three inches in length. Each cone 
consists of sixty or seventy seeds, of which never more than a third are produc¬ 
tive. For three years before the tree begins to yield fruit, almost all the seeds 
are unproductive, and in large trees those from the highest branches are best. 
The bark of the tree has a bitter aromatic taste, and has been used as a sub¬ 
stitute for Peruvian bark in intermittent fevers, and is a good tonic. 
The tulip tree is one of the most beautiful ornaments of pleasure grounds 
whereon it grows and flowers well. The timber is easily wrought and is much 
used for many purposes. Madge Vail. 
THE ELM. 
The elm belongs to the order of ulmacese or elmworts. There are several 
kinds of elms, some native of North America, some of. Europe and some of 
Asia; such as the cork elm, the slippery elm, the American or white elm, etc., 
the last mentioned being the one we are to consider. This elm, namely the 
American elm, is one of the largest and most beautiful of its species It is a 
native of the forests of North America, being most common in the northern, 
middle and western States. It grows from seventy to eighty feet high, attaining 
its greatest size between latitude 42 and 46 degrees, where it sometimes reaches- 
one hundred feet. The roots of the elm are very long and numerous, often ex¬ 
tending from one to two hundred feet; thus it is generally pretty secure from 
cyclones and heavy gales of wind. It has a fine straight trunk from three to 
five feet in diameter, covered with a rough dark-gray bark, and reaching from 
thirty to sixty feet before separating into branches. Its branches are large, 
wide-spreading, graceful and overhanging, and in the summer thickly covered 
with foliage. The flower of the American elm opens in April before the tree 
comes into leaf. It is very small, of a purplish color, and collected in little ter¬ 
minal clusters. The leaves which appear in the month of May are from four to 
five inches long, and oval in shape. Its wood is white in color, flexible and 
very tough, and is used for a variety of purposes by wheelwrights. The Ameri¬ 
can elm is a great favorite as a shade tree. It is perfectly hardy, will grow in 
nearly any soil, and on the seacoast equally as well as in the interior. It is tall 
and stately in appearance, thus adding beauty and picturesqueness to the sur- 
