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ELM , the popular name for the trees and shrubs constituting the genus Ulmus, of the natural See also:
All parts of the See also: trunk, including the sapwood, are available in See also:carpentry. By drying, the wood loses over 6o% of its See also:weight, and has then a specific gravity of o•588. It has considerable transverse strength, does not crack when once seasoned, and is remarkably durable under See also:water, or if kept quite dry; though it decays rapidly on exposure to the See also:weather, which in ten to eighteen months causes the bark to fall off, and gives to the wood a yellowish colour—a sign of deterioration in quality. To prevent shrinking and warping it may be preserved in water or mud, but it is best worked up soon after See also:felling. Analyses of the ash of the wood have given a percentage of 47.8% of See also:lime, 21.9% of potash, and 13.7% of soda. In summer, elm trees often exude an alkaline gummy substance, which by the See also:action of the See also:air becomes the brown insoluble See also:body termed ulmin. ' Elm wood is used for keels and See also:bilge-planks, the blocks and dead-eyes of See also:rigging, and See also:ships' pumps, for coffins, wheels, See also:furniture, carved and turned articles, and for See also:general carpenters' See also:work; and previous to the common employment of See also:cast See also:iron was much in See also:request for waterpipes. The inner bark of the elm is made into bast mats and See also:ropes. It contains See also:mucilage, with a little tannic See also:acid, and was formerly much employed for the preparation of an antiscorbutic decoction, now obsolete. The bark of Ulmus fulva, the slippery or red elm of the See also:United States and See also:Canada, serves the North See also:American See also:Indians for the same purpose, and also as a vulnerary. The leaves as well as the See also:young shoots of elms have been found a suitable See also:food for live stock. For ornamental purposes elm trees are frequently planted, and in avenues, as at the See also:park of Stratfieldsaye, in See also:Hampshire, are highly effective.They were first used in See also: France for the adornment of public walks in the reign of See also:Francis I. In See also:Italy, as in See also:ancient times, it is still customary to See also:train the See also:vine upon the elm—a practice to which frequent allusion has been made by the poets. The See also:cork-barked elm, U. campestris, See also:var. suberosa, is distinguished chiefly by the thick deeply fissured bark with which its branches are covered. There are numerous cultivated forms differing in See also:size and shape of See also:leaf, and manner of growth. The Scotch or wych elm, U. See also:montana, is indigenous to Britain and is the common elm of the See also:northern portion of the See also:island; it usually attains a height of about 50 ft., but among tall-growing trees may reach 120 ft. It has drooping branches and a smoother and thinner bark, larger and more tapering leaves, and a far less deeply notched seed-See also:vessel than U. campestris. The wood,though more porous than in that species, is a tough and hard material when properly seasoned, and, being very flexible when steamed, is well adapted for See also:boat-See also:building. Branches of the wych elm were formerly manufactured into bows, and if forked were employed as See also:divining-rods. The weeping elm, the most ornamental member of the genus, is a variety of this species. The Dutch or See also:sand elm is a See also:tree very similar to the wych elm, but produces inferior See also:timber. The American or white elm, U. americana, is a See also:hardy and very handsome species, of which the old tree on See also:Boston (See also:Mass.) Common was a representative. This tree is supposed to have been in existence before the See also:settlement of Boston, and at the See also:time of its destruction by the See also:storm of the 15th of See also:February 1876 measured 22 ft. in circumference.Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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