Lancaster Elm

Lancaster Elm, MA

This noble specimen of our common white elm grows in a field near Lancaster, Massachusetts. The objects around it emphasize its great size. It shows what a roadside tree may become if it is let alone and given time and elbow room, It is the pride of the state it grows in. May the insects spare it long!

Photograph from a 1913 book: .
THE TREE BOOK a popular GUIDE TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TREES OF NORTH AMERICA AND TO THEIR USES AND CULTIVATION

BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS WITH SIXTEEN PLATES IN COLOUR AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY IN BLACK-AND-WHITE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

BY A. RADCLYFFE DUGMORE

Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1913

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 12:14 am
From: Beth Koebel

Ed and others,

It is so sad that my generation and all the others to
come will never know the true giants of the eastern
woods, Amercian Elm and American Chestnut.

Beth

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TOPIC: Lancaster MA, Elm
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/b7b7b6b65b9f2902?hl=en
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== 1 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 7:12 am
From: Gary Smith

Beth,

I'm thinking there is hope for at least a nearly pure American
chestnut to be returned to the forest, maybe not for our generation,
but maybe for others to follow.

Also, regarding American elm and the Dutch elm disease, I think that
the full ramifications of the disease were never fully realized in the
deep South. I've seen some pretty good elms here and yonder. :-)

gs

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 7:43 am
From: James Parton

Beth,

I often look for American Chestnut while in the woods and have found
some in the 30ft range. Not the giants of yesteryear but they are not
extinct yet. I e-mailed Will last night concerning American Elms here
in Asheville NC. I cannot ever recall ever seeing one around here.

JP

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 8:08 am
From: Beth Koebel

James,

I know that both, the American elm and the chestnut,
are still around just not like the giants of
yesteryear.

Beth

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 11:18 am
From: Carolyn Summers

James,

The American Chestnut Foundation is always looking for viable seeds from
chestnuts old enough to sprout for their backcrossing program. They have a
database of so-called "mother" trees. I think their main research farm is
in Tennessee, with hundreds of seedlings up to full size trees with varying
degrees of resistance to the blight. In another couple years they will
begin releasing seedlings of 99% American chestnuts for outplanting on farms
and in forests. So, if you are lucky enough next fall to find good-sized
chestnuts AND you are wearing gloves and are carrying a bag to put them (I
once tried with my bare hands - ouch), the ACF would love to have them for
their propagation efforts.
--
Carolyn Summers

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Thurs, Jan 24 2008 1:39 pm
From: Larry

Ed, Awesome tree! Sadly we'll never see a giant like that, thanks for
posting it. Some of the Cypress I saw in the Pascagoula are in that
range, but the crowns are no where near that size! Larry

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