to tell them; so now they were all peering curiously among the trees to see which were putting on their new spring suits. The yellow trees and the p

, and the wonder was found on their own home-elms, those stately trees which had shaded

e upper window from which an eager head was

m trees," was the reply. "Look, Mis

t them. But they must both come up here now, where they can see them, and Malcolm and I can ma

es of jumps, and presently Miss Harson was holding

said Malcolm; "and they're so thick that they '

horoughly and tell me afterward what you have noticed about them; then we will go down to the schoolr

l about them, but Miss Harson pre

see when she looked out

was the reply, "wi

s Harson, "but perhaps Clara can tell us

e it nice and shady in summer; and some of the branches bend

ow Mal

ld call it--is very thick, and the bra

the shape of an umbrella. This makes a very regular-looking and beautiful tree. For about three-quarters of the way up, the 'plume' of which Clara speaks has one straight trunk, which then bends over droopingly. Small twigs cluster around the trunk all the way from bottom to top and give the tree the appearance of having a vine twining about it. I think that the plume-shape is the prettiest and most

t look like vases, Mis

rfect vase-shape, for it is only an approach to it. The dome-shaped elm has a broad, round head, which is formed by the shooting forth of branches of

Malcolm: "some of the roots are on top of the

ELM L

-shaped, from two to four or five inches long. You can see their exact shape in this illustration. Their summer tint is very bright and vivid, but it turns in autumn to a sober brown, sometimes touched with a bright golden yellow, And now," continued Miss Harson, "we will examine the flowers which we have here, and we see that each blossom is on a green, slender thread less than half an in

pery elm come fr

age--that, I suppose, is the reason for its being called 'slippery'--and it has been extensively used as a medicine. The wood is very strong and preferred to that of the white elm for building-purposes, although the latter is considered the best native wood for hubs of wheels. There is a great elm tree on

Malcolm, "though I s'pose nobody ever

shed from the American elm by its bark, which is darker and much more broken; by having one principal stem, which soars upward to a great height; and by its branches, which are thrown out more boldly and abruptly and at a larger angle. Its limbs stretch out horizontally or tend upward with an ap

abounding el

rows up

forest, cop

he peopl

nies of n

tle on i

ars ago. The Chipstead Elm is fifteen feet around; the Crawley Elm, thirty-five. A writer says, 'The ample branches of the Crawley Elm shelter Mayday gambols while troops of rustics celebrate the opening of green leav

the tree?" asked Clara. "I wish we had on

f England there is another great elm tree with a hollow trunk which has fitted into it a door fastened by a lock and key. A doze

said Malcolm. "Just

nt people to possess magical powers and to defend from the malice of witches the place on which it grew. Even now it is said that in remote parts of England the dairymaid flies to it as a resource on the days when she c

silly?" excl

in color, and is much used in the building of ships, for hubs of wheels, axletrees and many other purposes. In France the leaves and shoots are used to feed cattle. In Russia the leaves of one variety are