, 1890-07-27
Elm Tsge

Tor -Four Centuries the New EnxI.Dders
Have Cultivated and Surtured 1t.
The elm tree Is dear to the heart of
the New Highlander. No other tree Is
associated in his mind with the idea of
home. 1t forms the most remarkable
feature of the domestic New England
landscape, and In no part of the coun-
try Is there a tree which occupies the
same position In the affection of the
people as the elm does In that of the
inhabitants of New England.
The people who settled the shores of
Massachusetts, bay brought with them
the remembrance of the elm trees,
which were such an important and con-
spicuous feature in the country where
they had been bred; and it Is not sur
pristng that they sought to reproduce in
the new country something of the old
by planting by their doors the most
familiar of the English 'troof trees"
30 the habit grew of setting an elm tree
close by the home hewn out In the will
derness, and these house trees, planted
by he early settlers of New England or
by their descendants of the early gen.
erations, are the oldest and noblest
trees which have been planted by man
In North America.
The affection for the elm tree, thus
early developed In the New England
heart, often saved 1t when the land was
being cleared for cultivation; and when
roads were made and provided with
trees, as they were more generally in
New England a hundred years ago than
they are now. the elm naturally was
selected to shade the traveller from the
stem supporting the broad head of
Light and pendulous branches, the del
ioate spray, indescribably beautiful in
winter, and the abundant foliage of
summer make the American elm one
Of the most desirable roadside trees
when placed In a suitable situation,
and a fitting ornament to stand by the
stateliest mansion or the humblest
farm house.
The American elm will not live to a
great g or develop all its beauty In
every situation. 1t breads drought and
starves In poor soil; its home is on fer
tile intervales along streams and where
plant food is never lacking. The elms
which grew to such great size by the
farm houses of New England owed
their stature to the nourishment stolen
from the neighboring garden or to the
moisture drawn from the well which
Its branches shaded. Thus they grew
to great size and livedou their span of
life, which at best Is not very greet, for
b elm Is a fast growing tree and rare
ly lives during a longer period than
two centuries or two centuries and a
half. The most vigorous of them be-
gin to show the first signs Of decay be-
fore they have seen a century and a
half go by, and an elm a hundred
years old In perfect health is diff
cult to find except on some exception
ally fertile river lands like those which
border the upper Connecticut.
The elm is one of the best of trees to
plant where the soil is deep and rich
and where moisture Is abundant and
constant; 1t Is one of the least desirable
of all trees to set by the side of city
streets, where plant food is always
lacking and where moisture is quickly
carried off by the artificial drainage of
road bed and service pipes. Give 1t a
fair chance and the American elm will
hold Its own against any tree in the
world In Its own peculiar light and
graceful beauty; but unless all the con
ditions favor it there is no tree less
satisfactory, and it should not be plant
cd unless these conditions can be sup
plied.-Garden and Forest.