of June. They ought to be gathered with the hand before they drop, as from their lightness and winged appendages, they are very apt to be blown away by the wind. The seeds may either be sown as soon as gathered, in which case, many plants will come up the same season; or they may be thinly spread out to dry in the shade, and afterwards put up into bags or boxes, and kept in a dry place till the following March or April. Sang directs the seeds to be chosen from the tallest and most erect and healthy trees; on the sound principle, that plants, like animals, convey to their progeny their appearance and habits, whether good or bad. Trees, therefore, though having abundance of seeds, if they be either visibly diseased, or ill formed, should be passed over by the collector. Elm seeds should be gathered the moment they are ripe, which is readily known by their beginning to fall. If the gathering is delayed for a single day, the seed is liable to be blown off, and scattered by the slightest gale. (Plant. Cal., p. 412.) The seeds, whether sown immediately when gathered, or in the following spring, ought to be deposited in light or friable rich soil, and very thinly, in order that the plants that rise from them may be strong and vigorous. If they rise too thickly the first year, they are for several years after sensibly affected, continuing weak, although carefully thinned out. The best form in which the seed can be deposited is in beds; and the covering of soil should not be more than in. thick. (Id., p. 283.) The plants may be transplanted into nursery lines, either at the age of one or two years; and they may be grafted the following spring. If not intended to be grafted, they may go through a regular course of nursery culture, till they have attained the desired height; and they will transplant readily at 20 ft. or 25 ft., though not nearly so well at that size as the U. campéstris. Few plants succeed more readily by grafting than the elm; so much so, that when the graft is made close to the surface of the soil, and the scion tied on with matting, the mere earthing up of the plants from the soil in the intervals between the rows will serve as a substitute for claying. The graft, in our opinion, should always be made 6 in. or 8 in. above the collar, in order to lessen the risk of the scion, when it becomes a tree, throwing out roots; which, in the case of all the varieties of U. campestris, would become troublesome by their suckers. Statistics. Recorded Trees. Cook Forest Trees, pref. p. xiv.) mentions a wych elm, which was felled in Sir Walter Bagot's Park, in Staffordshire, which was 120 ft. high, with a trunk 17 ft. in diameter at the surface of the ground. It required two men five days to fell it; after which it lay 40 yards in length, and was at the stool 17 ft. in diameter. It broke, in the fall, 14 loads of wood; and had 48 loads in the head. It yielded 8 pairs of naves; 8660 ft. of boards and planks; and the whole was esteemed to weigh 97 tons. The Tutbury wych elm is mentioned, in Shaw's Staffordshire, as forming a magnificent feature, both in the near and distant prospect. Strutt, who has given an engraving of this tree, of which fig. 1243. is a reduced copy, to the scale of 1 in. to 50 ft. describes it as having a trunk 12 ft. long, and 16 ft. 9 in. in circumference at the height of 5 ft. from the ground. The trunk divides, at the height of 12 ft., into 8 noble branches, which are nearly 50 ft. high, and extend between 50 ft. and 60 ft. from the centre of the tree, which contained 689 cubic feet of timber. This tree exists still, and the dimensions and contents given by Strutt have been confirmed to us by Thomas Turner, Esq., Sudbury. The wych elm at Bagot's Mill is also figured by Strutt (p. 68.), who says that it is a tree more remarkable for its beauty than its size. The largest elms which are known certainly to belong to the species U. montana are supposed to be in Scotland. The following dimensions are taken from Sang's Planter's Calendar; and the reader may rely on their being of trees of the true U. montana. On the estate of Castle Huntly, there are several fine Scotch elms, which girt, at 3 ft. from the ground, about 11 ft. At Lord Morton's, Aberdour, Fife, there is a Scotch elm, which measured, March 10. 1812, 40 ft. length of bole, and in girt 11 ft. 6 in. Two elms, at Yair, in Selkirkshire, girt each, at the surface of the ground, 13 ft. An elm tree, in the parish of Roxburgh, in Teviotdale, called the Trysting Tree, was measured in 1796; and its girt, at 4 ft. from the surface of the ground, was 30 ft. An elm, on the lawn at Taymouth Castle, girted, in September, 1814, 15 ft. 9 in. (Sang's Nicol's Plant. Cal., p. 549.) In Ireland, the wych, or native Irish elm, appears to grow with great vigour. Hayes mentions six trees, produced from layers from the stole of a tree felled for that purpose, which in 26 years girted from 3 ft. 11 in. to 4 ft. 9 in. at 5 ft. from the ground. Three out of these six trees would thus, at 26 years' growth, cut into 12 in. planks. (Pract. Hints on Plant., p. 162.) A Scotch elm, remarkable for its fantastic boughs, is figured in Monteith's Forester's Guide, pl. 12., and said to stand on the estate of Touch, Stirlingshire. "My reason for giving a figure of this tree," says Monteith," is, that it proves to demonstration the different crooks and shapes that, by a timely attention to the growth of trees, they could be brought to grow to. The crooked branch of this tree had evidently once been the main stem; but was kept down, I am told, by children swinging upon it when young. Hence it has, as will be seen by looking at the dimensions, been brought to form crooks nearly equal in largeness to the bole of the tree. This tree affords a very great natural curiosity to the eye of a lover of trees. (For. Guide, p. 392) Statistics of existing Trees In England. At Muswell Hill, it is 85 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and of the head 45 ft. In Hampshire, at Alresford, 81 years planted, it is 72 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 5 in., and of the head 36 ft. In the Isle of Wight, in Wilkins's Nursery, it is 25 ft. high. In Somersetshire, at Nettlecombe, 40 years planted, it is 65 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 11 in, and of the head 26 ft. In Surrey, at Farnham Castle, it is 80 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 4 in., and of the head 86 ft.; at St. Anne's Hill, it is 70 ft. high, diameter of trunk 4 ft., and of the head 99 ft. In Bedfordshire, at Woburn Abbey, is one with a trunk 6 ft., and the diameter of the head 92 ft. In Monmouthshire, at Dowlais House, 20 years old, it is 30 ft. high. In Oxfordshire, in the Oxford Botanic Garden, it is 100 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 10 in., andļof the head 120 ft. In Worcestershire, at Croome, 70 years planted, it is 70 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 4 ft., and of the head 28 ft.; at Hagley, 10 years planted, it is 14 ft. high. In Yorkshire, at Grimstone, 12, years planted, it is 24 ft. high. U. montana in Scotland. In the Horticultural Garden, Inverleith, 99 years planted, it is 18 ft. high; at Hopetoun House, 100 years planted, it is 60 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 4 ft., and of the head 51 ft. In Clackmannanshire, in the garden of the Dollar Institution, 12 years planted, it is 30 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 24 ft. In Lanarkshire, at Pollock, are some very large wych elms, one of which figured by Strutt in 1812 was then 86 ft high, but in October, 1839, it was again measured for this work, and was found 90 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk nearly 4 ft., at 5 ft. from the ground. There are three other elms at Pollock nearly as large; and one which is reported to have been planted by Sir Thomas Maxwell, lord advocate of William III., and one of the commissioners of the union, and which must consequently be upwards of 180 years old. In Perthshire, at Kinfauns Castle, it is 70 ft high, diameter of the trunk 6 ft., and of the head 60 ft A sketch of this tree was sent us by Mr. Robertson, gardener at Kinfauns Castle, of which fig. 1244. is an engraving, reduced to the scale of 1 in. to 50 ft. In Stirlingshire, at Airthrey Castle, it is 63 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 4 ft., and of the head 48 ft. ; at Callender Park, it is 46 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 5 ft., and of the head 66 ft. 1244 U. montana in Ireland. In Cork, at Castle Freke, it is 50 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 3 in., and of the head 32 ft. In Louth, near Mansfieldstown, at Bawn, a tree planted to commemorate the birth of the grandfather of the present proprietor, and which is considered to be of about 120 years' growth, is 70 ft. high; the diameter of the trunk at the base 9 ft. 8 in., at 6 ft. from the ground 5 ft. 4 in., and the diameter of the head 90 ft. Commercial Statistics. Plants, in the London nurseries, are, seedlings 5s. per thousand; transplanted seedlings, from 1 ft. to 2 ft. high, 15s. per thousand; from 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, 25s. per thousand; from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, 50s. per thousand. At Bollwyller, large plants are 1 franc each; and at New York, they are 5 cents each. 7. U. (M.) GLA BRA Mill. The smooth-leaved, or Wych, Elm. Identification. Mill. Dict., ed. 8., No. 4.; Cullum, 97.; Engl. Bot., t. 2248.; Sm. Engl. Fl., 2. p. 23. ; Hook. Br. FL., p. 142.; Lindl. Synop., p. 226.; Mackay Fl. Hibern., pt. 1. p. 241. Synonymes. U. montana 8 Fl. Br., 282.; Hull., ed. 2., 75., U. folio glabro Ger. Emac., 1481. f., Raii Syn., 469.; U. campéstris var. 3. With. 279.; the feathered Elm. Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 2248.; Ger. Emac., 1481. f.; and our fig. 1245. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves elliptic-oblong, doubly serrated, smooth. Flowers nearly sessile, 5-cleft. Samara obovate, naked, deeply cloven. (Smith.) A tall elegant tree, with spreading, rather drooping, smooth, blackish branches, scarcely downy in their earliest stage of growth. Leaves smaller than any of the preceding (except U. campéstris), as well as more oblong; strongly serrated, very unequal at the base, not elongated at the extremity; their substance firm, or rather rigid; the surface of both sides very smooth to the touch, and without any hairs beneath, except the axillary pubescence of the ribs, which often forms a narrow downy line along the midrib. Flowers nearly sessile, with 5 short, bluntish, fringed segments, and as many longish stamens; the anthers of which are roundish heart-shaped. Samara smaller than most other species, obovate, cloven down to the seed, smooth, often reddish. A native of Britain, chiefly in England, in woods and hedges; and forming the most common elm in some parts of Essex. It bears seeds in nearly as great abundance as U. montàna, and it does not throw up suckers; which convinces us that it is only a variety of that species. The propagation, culture, &c., of U. glabra and its varieties are the same as in the preceding sort; but, to preserve the latter distinct, they ought to be grafted. 1245 Varieties. In consequence of U. glàbra ripening seeds in different parts of England, many varieties have been raised from it, most of which are distinguished by great rapidity of growth. From the specimens that have been sent to us from the Canterbury, Huntingdon, and other nurseries, and also from the trees in the Horticultural Society's Garden, it is difficult to determine, in every case, whether the varieties of U. (m.) glàbra are not nearer to U. montana or U. americàna, than to that sub-species; and, in some instances, they appear to partake of the character of U. campéstris and U. (c.) suberosa. T. A. Knight, Esq., informs us that from seeds of one variety of U. (m.) glabra, viz. the Downton elm, which were ripened in the cold climate of that part of Shropshire, he “ raised plants which are so perfectly similar to the U. suberòsa, and which approximate so nearly to the character of the U. glabra, that " he does "not doubt but that the U. campestris, U. suberòsa, U. glabra, and three or four other varieties which" he has "seen in different parts of England, are all varieties only of the same species." A. Timber Trees. U. (m.) g. 1 vulgaris. The common smooth-leaved Elm. U. (m.) g. 2 vegeta; U. montàna vegèta in the Horticultural Society's Garden; U.americàna Masters. The Huntingdon Elm, the Chichester Elm, the American Elm in some places, and, perhaps, the Scampston Elm. This is by far the most vigorous-growing kind of elin propagated in British nurseries, often making shoots from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in length in one season; and the tree attaining the height of upwards of 30 ft. in 10 years from the graft. Having written to Huntingdon, Chichester, York, Newcastle, and various other places, respecting this elm, we have received the following information from Mr. John Wood, nurseryman, near Huntingdon, dated November, 1836.—“The Huntingdon elm," he says, was raised here about 80 or 90 years ago, by an uncle of mine, from seed collected in this neighbourhood. I have sent many plants of it all over the country; and it has been given out from Norwich, Bristol, and other places, under the name of the Chichester elm; but you may rely on my word that the Chichester elm and the Huntingdon elm are one and the same thing. The tree is the fastest grower, and produces the best timber, of all the elms. I have lately cut down some trees planted about 40 years ago, and have used the planks in various ways in house-building." The young shoots of this elm sent to us by Mr. Wood were 9 ft. long; and those sent to us by Mr. Masters, under the name of the American elm, which he considers as a synonyme to the Huntingdon elm, were about the same length. We also observed that the shoots of U. campéstris álba Masters, and of U. c. acutifòlia Masters, strongly resemble those of the Huntingdon elm. The tree marked as the Huntingdon elm in the Horticultural Society's Garden was, in 1834, 35 ft. high, after being 10 years planted. * U. (m.) g. 3 var. The Scampston Elm. The earliest notice which we can find of this tree is in the Agricultural Report for the County of Durham, published in 1810; and in which it is said that the Scampston elm comes from a place of that name in Yorkshire, but is supposed to be originally from America. It is said to be a plant of wonderfully quick growth, having made shoots from grafts, in one year, of 5 ft. or 6 ft. in length. From the tree bearing this name in the Horticultural Society's Garden, which, in 1834, was 18 ft. high, after being 8 years planted, it is clearly some variety of U. glabra, and very little different from the species. ¥ U. (m.) g. 4 major, U. glàbra màjor Hort. Dur., the Canterbury Seedling, is of more vigorous growth than the species, and, indeed, is a rival to U. americàna and the Huntingdon elm, in quickness of growth. It preserves its foliage long after U. (m.) glàbra; and its bark is * U. (m.) g. 5 glandulòsa Lindl. — Leaves very glandular beneath. B. Ornamental or curious Trees. ↑ U. (m.) g. 8 péndula, U. campéstris péndula Hort. Dur., the Downton Elm, was raised in Smith's Nursery, at Worcester, Mr. Smith states, in 1810, from seeds obtained from a tree in Nottinghamshire. Mr. Knight of Downton Castle purchased some of these trees; and one of them turned out to be that weeping variety which has since obtained the name of the Downton elm. On writing to Mr. Smith, to endeavour to get some information respecting the trees that produced the seed, he informs us in answer, that, after making every enquiry in Nottinghamshire respecting these trees, he finds they were a mixture of wych and English: probably they were all planted as English; but, being grafted trees, and being planted by the side of a public road, they might have been broken off at the graft when young. At any rate, the plants produced from the seeds were a complete mixture of the English and wych elms, both by their leaves and their manner of growth. The original trees in Nottinghamshire have been long since cut down, and the ground built upon. The plants which I raised," he adds, “not meeting with a ready sale, I grafted them with the common English elm, which is more in demand in this neighbourhood." Mr. Knight observes that "the Downton elm is more remarkable for the singularity of its form and growth, than for its value as a timber tree." There is a tree of this variety in the Horticultural Society's Garden 23 ft. high, the branches of which are somewhat pendulous. * U. (m.) g. 9 variegata H. S. has variegated leaves. * U. (m.) g. 10 ramulosa Booth.-We have not seen this variety lately; but there were plants of it in the Horticultural Society's Garden some years ago; and we suppose it still exists in the Floetbeck Nurseries. Statistics. Young trees of Ulmus glabra in the Horticultural Society's Garden, which, in 1834, had been 10 years planted, were between 30 ft and 40 ft. high. In Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, 40 years planted, it is 66 ft. high; diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 44 ft. In Staffordshire, at Trentham, 26 years planted, it is 34 ft. high. In Yorkshire, at Grimston, 14 years planted, it is 25 ft. high. In Perthshire, at Taymouth, 160 years planted, it is 100 ft. high; diameter of the trunk 8 ft., and of the head 90 ft. In Germany, in the Botanic Garden, Göttingen, it is 30 ft. high, with a trunk 1 ft. in diameter. Commercial Statistics. Plants of the Huntingdon elm, in the London nurseries, from 4 ft. to 5 ft. high (that is, one year grafted), are 25s. per hundred; from 7 ft. to 9 ft. high (that is, 2 years from the graft), 50s. per hundred. 8. U. ALBA Kit. The whitish-leaved Elm. Identification. Kitaib., quoted in Rom et Schult. Syst. Veg., 6. p. 500.; Willd. Baumz., p. 518.; Schult. Oestr. Fl., ed. 2., 1. p. 466.; Rom. et Schult. Syst. Veg., 6. p. 500.; Spreng. Syst. Veg., 1. p. 930. Spec. Char., &c. Bark grey brown; smooth, not chinky. Leaves with downy petioles; and disks oblong, acuminate, 24 in. long, unequal at the base, doubly and very argutely serrate; above, deep green; beneath, downy, and becoming obviously whitish. (Willd. and Schult. Syst. Teg., vi. p. 300.) A native of Hungary; said to have been introduced in 1834, but we are not aware that the plant is in British gardens. 9. U. AMERICA'NA L. The American Elm. Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 327.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 1. p. 1325., exclusive of the var. 7; Willd. Enum. Hort. Berol., p. 295., and Suppl., p. 14.; Poiret. Encycl. Méth., 4. p. 611.; Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 172.; Rom. et Schult. Syst., 6. p. 300.; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 199., exclusive of the var. B; Michx. Arb., 3. p. 269.; North Amer. Sylva, 3. p. 83. t. 126.; Ait. Hort. Kew., No. 3., exclusive of the var. pendula; Smith in Rees's Cyclop., No. 7.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. The white Elm, Amer.; the Canadian Elm; the American white Elm. Engravings. Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 3. t. 126.; and our fig. 1246. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf with the petiole 1-1 in. long, and hairy with short hairs; and the disk unequal at the base, 4-5 in. long, inclusive of a long acuminate point, 2-2 in. broad, serrate, and mostly doubly so; the axils of the veins underneath joined by a membrane. Flowers peduncled, effuse; peduncles short, glabrous. Stamens 5 and 8. Samara fringed at the edge with hairs, ovate, acute. (Willd. Enum. and Suppl., Ram. et Schult. Syst. Veg.) This species is readily distinguishable from others by the membrane which appears at the axils of the veins. (Willd. Enum. Suppl.) Young branches brown, with short, very fine hairs. Leaves deeply green above, almost glossy, rough; beneath, pale, downy. Flowers like those of U. effùsa. Wild in North America, in low woods, from New England to Carolina. A tree, growing, in North America, to the height of 80 ft. or 100 ft. Introduced in 1752; but rarely flowering, and never ripening seeds, in England. Varieties. I U. a. 1 rubra Ait. Hort. Kew., i. p. 319.- Branches red. Leaves ovate, rugose, rough. (Rom. et Schult. Syst. Veg.) I U. a. 2 álba Ait. Hort. Kew., i. p. 319.; Marsh., p. 250.- Branches whitish. Leaves oblong, rough. ? U. mollifòlia. (Ram. et Schult. Syst. Veg.) U. a. 3 pendula Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., i. p. 200., Ait. Hort. Kew., Description, &c. The leaves of the white American elm, according to Michaux, are 4 in. or 5 in. long, borne on short petioles, alternate, unequal at the base, oval-acuminate, and doubly denticulated: they are generally smaller than those of the red elm (Ulmus (a.) fúlva). The flowers appear before the leaves, and are very small; of a purple colour, supported by short slender footstalks, and united in bunches at the extremity of the branches. The seeds are contained in flat, oval, fringed capsules, notched at the base. The trunk is covered with a tender white bark, very deeply furrowed. In favourable situations, on the banks of rivers, the tree reaches a great height, and displays extraordinary magnificence of vegetation. "In clearing the primitive forests," says Michaux, "a few specimens of the white elm are sometimes left standing. Insulated in this manner, it appears in all its majesty, towering to the height of 80 ft. or 100 ft., with a trunk 4 ft. or 5 ft. in diameter; regularly shaped, naked, and insensibly diminishing to the height of 60 ft. or 70 ft.; when it divides itself into two or three primary limbs. The limbs, not widely divergent near the base, approach and cross each other 8 ft. or 10 ft. higher; and diffuse on all sides long, flexible, pendulous branches, bending into regular arches, and floating lightly in the air. A singularity is observed in this tree, which I have witnessed in no other: two small limbs, 4 ft. or 5 ft. long, grow in a reversed position near the first ramification, and descend along the trunk." (N. Amer. Syl., iii. p. 85.) In New Hampshire, he adds, " a great number of young white elms are seen detached in the middle of the pastures: they 1246 |
