Chinese Elm a Long Lived Tree 
(,Extract from a letter from W. C. Lowdermilk, Department of Forestry, 
University of Nanking, Nanking, China, 1925.) 
"When trees are planted about graves (in China), they are usually 
protected until they die. I have seen Ulmus pumila (Chinese Elm), 
forming groves about graves in Northern Shensi where few other species 
will thrive. It was impossible to get stump counts in the absence of felled 
trees, but l estimated the trees to be 100 to 150 years old, and they may 
have been older." 
“Give fools their gold, and knaves their power, 
Let fortune s bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field, or trains a flower, 
Or plants a tree, is more than all ."— Whittier. 
(Ulmus Pumila) 
trunk and low head. The fact is they can be grown so as to branch 
out six, eight or ten feet above the ground, and make a beautiful 
straight smooth trunk. As to hardiness they are growing successfully 
at the experiment station at Mandan, North Dakota, the coldest 
station in the United States. They seem to be in .heavy demand in 
Minnesota and the Dakotas. In Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and 
the other droughty states, reports show they are giving satisfaction. 
In fact, nothing but favorable reports come from all sections. It 
solves the problem of shade trees for the highways, because it will 
grow without water, and needs but little care after the first season 
or two. What the Government men say about it: Mr. Chilcott, 
superintendent of the experiment station at Woodward, Okla., writes: 
•‘So far as I know it is the most rapid-growing and most graceful 
shade tree we have for the semi-arid southwest, and is free from insect 
and disease enemies and any pronounced bad qualities.” Mr. Karper, 
superintendent of the Lubbock, Texas, experiment station last year 
but now of College Station, wrote us a year ago: ‘‘We introduced 
the Chinese Elm into West Texas about six years ago and have about 
two dozen of them planted in the spring of 1919, which are the finest 
trees we have growing on the station grounds. These trees are from 
20 to 30 feet high and have a body of six inches or perhaps better, 
and so far at least they seem to be the most promising tree for shade 
and windbreak planting which we have found for the western part of 
the state. We have made trial distributions of this Elm pretty well 
over the western part of the stage and have received only favorable 
reports on its performance. It has an extensive root system of fibrous 
roots and is very easy to transplant. In transplanting several thou¬ 
sand from the seedling state on up, I do not believe we have lost a tree. 
With us the tree makes a vigorous and rapid growth and a dense shade. 
It is the first to put on foliage in the spring and the last to lose its 
leaves in the fall.” 
Our Best Shade Tree for This Section 
Mr. D. L. Jones, present superintendent of the Lubbock station, 
writes us under date of September 27, 1926: ‘‘Concerning your letter 
relative to the Chinese Elm: We consider this our best shade tree 
for this section of the state. It also seems well adapted to other 
sections from reports we have here on file. During the spring of 1919, 
25 M-foot trees were set out on the station grounds. Fourteen were 
placed in a row, spacing the trees 10 feet apart. By the spring of 1926 
they averaged 25 feet high and had a trunk diameter ranging from 7 
to 9 inches. These trees received no water after the first year. Another 
tree set out at the same time and receiving plenty of water was 34 feet 
high with a spread of 28 feet and a trunk diameter of 12 inches this 
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