The Lake City Elm 
vicinity, is important due to our comparatively 
short growing season; also the trees all have a 
characteristically similar type of branching 
habit which we believe is advantageous in 
street tree planting. 
As to the cost of maintenance, it has been 
somewhat less on pruning than that required 
on the common American Elm. This is due to 
the fact that all the branches tend to leave the 
trunk at an acute upward angle and for this 
reason the permanent skeleton of any given 
tree can be formed at an earlier date than on 
an American Elm whose branches sometimes 
tend to droop considerably and also that it is 
quite free from sucker growth. Although the 
Lake City Elm in Duluth seems to be no more 
resistant to insect attacks, than the other elms, 
it does, due to its fast growth, seem to outgrow 
its injuries sooner. 
Although the Lake City Elm is possibly not 
as fast a grower as the Moline Elm, we have 
found it in our community, a more desirable 
street tree. Here the Moline Elm has a tendency 
to keep on growing too late into the Fall and 
of failing to mature its wood properly which 
results in the killing back of the top to some 
extent. The Moline Elm is also smoother 
barked and for that reason the trunk has a 
great tendency to frost crack and sunscald in 
this climate. 
Trusting that this information will be of 
interest to you as a grower, I am, 
Yours very truly, 
Harry L. Staves, 
Landscape Engineer 
The Park Department 
Duluth, Minnesota 
