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<v Speaker 1>Chapter two of Ten Common Trees. This is a LibriVox recording.

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<v Speaker 1>All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more

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<v Speaker 1>information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording

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<v Speaker 1>by John van stan Savannah, Georgia. Ten Common Trees by

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<v Speaker 1>Susan Stokes, Chapter two, The American Elm. Did you ever

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<v Speaker 1>think what a fine old teacher Winter is? You would

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<v Speaker 1>like to be in his school? I know, for he

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<v Speaker 1>teaches such interesting things. There are clouds learning to snow,

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<v Speaker 1>brooks building roofs, partridges coloring their feathers, and blue birds

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<v Speaker 1>being sent south. There are oaks and elms learning how

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<v Speaker 1>not to be cold, and pines thickening their needles. How

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<v Speaker 1>does he do it? He began with our elm, when

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<v Speaker 1>it was only a straight, slim wand growing in the

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<v Speaker 1>rich soil of a meadow. He came around in the

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<v Speaker 1>early fall. The elm still had its pretty green leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, listen to me, I shall be coming soon.

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<v Speaker 1>You should cover the ends of yours. It will soon

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<v Speaker 1>be too cold for them. The little elm heard and

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<v Speaker 1>stretched the scales around the bud so that they covered

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<v Speaker 1>it all over, where too came together it put another

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<v Speaker 1>over the place. You can see what they looked like,

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<v Speaker 1>and the figures on page seventeen. Winter came again, with

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<v Speaker 1>a colder snap than before. This time, he said, you

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<v Speaker 1>should drop your leaves. It will be warmer without them.

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<v Speaker 1>And again the little elm heard, and it dropped its

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<v Speaker 1>leaves and found it warmer without. When winter finally came

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<v Speaker 1>to stay, he could not get in, for the doors

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<v Speaker 1>were safely barred. So he said, well done. That is

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<v Speaker 1>the way they ought to be. There were others that

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<v Speaker 1>did not so well, and with them he was severe.

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<v Speaker 1>He nipped the ends of their twigs so that they

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<v Speaker 1>did not grow again. That is the way trees are

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<v Speaker 1>made hardy. Only the strongest can live. It is really

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<v Speaker 1>strange that a slender twig scarcely larger than a straw,

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<v Speaker 1>can keep alive in weather that will freeze a foot

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<v Speaker 1>of ice on the pond. There are very many that

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<v Speaker 1>do not. A large number do not survive the first year.

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<v Speaker 1>All winter long, the little elm was just as still

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<v Speaker 1>as could be. It rested and waited until the days

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<v Speaker 1>grew longer and the nights were not very cold. Then

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<v Speaker 1>the sap began the flow the twigs back of the

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<v Speaker 1>buds filled up. The warm sun shone and the elm

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<v Speaker 1>loosened the scales a little. Then the leaves came out.

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<v Speaker 1>They were of a pale gray color, folded and plaited,

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<v Speaker 1>and covered with down. The veins ran from the mid

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<v Speaker 1>rib to the margin very evenly. These leaves grew longer

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<v Speaker 1>and wider. They had a pointed tip and a saw

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<v Speaker 1>toothed edge. The leaf stem or pettiole, was quite short,

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<v Speaker 1>and one half of the oval blade was smaller than

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<v Speaker 1>the other. They were about three inches long. The twigs

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<v Speaker 1>and buds were bare and smooth, and the early leaf

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<v Speaker 1>down was soon shed. The leaves spread out on either

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<v Speaker 1>side of the stem like a feather. In this way

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<v Speaker 1>the little elm showed that it was a white or

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<v Speaker 1>American elm. Later its branches spread out like a great vase,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is also a feature of the American elm.

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<v Speaker 1>All summer long, it kept on growing. It pushed out

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<v Speaker 1>its tip and added leaves, first one on one side

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<v Speaker 1>of the stem and then one on the other. It

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<v Speaker 1>started some twigs from the angles of last year's leaves,

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<v Speaker 1>and looked much more like a tree than it had

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<v Speaker 1>the year before. When the winter came the elm had

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<v Speaker 1>a stout heart and a warm bark. It made winter

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<v Speaker 1>buds through which the frost could not pierce. Then, too,

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<v Speaker 1>it was in a sheltered place, and the wind did

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<v Speaker 1>not sweep through its branches. In this way it grew.

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<v Speaker 1>In the spring, it stretched its twigs into long branches.

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<v Speaker 1>The rain washed it, the winds fanned it, and the

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<v Speaker 1>earth fed it, and it became a tall, slender tree

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<v Speaker 1>with graceful spreading arms. When the elm was several years

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<v Speaker 1>old it flowered for the first time. It was in April,

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<v Speaker 1>when spring cometh over the hills, her garments with morning sweet,

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<v Speaker 1>the breath of a thousand rills, making music before her feet.

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<v Speaker 1>This year, when the buds opened, it was not leaves

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<v Speaker 1>that came out, but purplish tufts of tiny bells. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of the bells had several clappers apiece. Some of them

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<v Speaker 1>had none, but had instead two hairy arms purple in color.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of them had both. These were the flowers of

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<v Speaker 1>the elm. The purplish cup or bell was the cloak

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<v Speaker 1>or calyx. The clappers the anthers filled with golden pollen dust.

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<v Speaker 1>The hairy arms were the stigmas held up to catch

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<v Speaker 1>the pollen born by the wind from another tree. People

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<v Speaker 1>who have studied plants and trees for many years have

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<v Speaker 1>found that the seed which grows when the flower uses

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<v Speaker 1>its own pollen are weaker than the seed which grow

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<v Speaker 1>when the pollen comes from another plant of the same

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<v Speaker 1>kind and not from the flower's own anthers. They think

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<v Speaker 1>that is the reason the elm flowers before the leaves

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<v Speaker 1>come out. Can you see that the leaves would keep

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<v Speaker 1>the wind from carrying in the other pollen. After the

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<v Speaker 1>stigmas have caught the pollen, the fruit begins to grow.

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<v Speaker 1>The fruit is the seed with whatever cloak may be

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<v Speaker 1>wrapped about them in the elm. This cloak is flat

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<v Speaker 1>and round and green. It looks like a green leaf,

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<v Speaker 1>with a notch in the outer end and the fringe

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<v Speaker 1>of hairs around the edge. The tiny cup of the

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<v Speaker 1>flower is just below it, and the slender pedicil is

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<v Speaker 1>about an inch long. In the center is a thickened part.

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<v Speaker 1>Within this is the seed, and in the seed is

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<v Speaker 1>the baby elm. Now can you tell me why it

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<v Speaker 1>should have a wing a sail? It is that the

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<v Speaker 1>wind may carry it away and plant it outside the

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<v Speaker 1>shade of the mother tree. The white elms are among

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<v Speaker 1>the most beautiful of the forest trees. They are often

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<v Speaker 1>planted along streets, and their long branches meeting overhead form arches.

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<v Speaker 1>There are several such streets in Newhaven, which is called

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<v Speaker 1>the City of Elms. There are also many historic elms.

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<v Speaker 1>The Washington Elm at Cambridge and the Old Elm at Pittsfield, Massachusetts,

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<v Speaker 1>are two of these. There is another near Philadelphia known

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<v Speaker 1>as Penn's Treaty elm. Why do you think did it

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<v Speaker 1>receive that name? A long time ago, before the Druids

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<v Speaker 1>chose to worship only the oak, people would plant birth

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<v Speaker 1>trees when the child was born, and the tree became

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<v Speaker 1>a sort of household god. It was thought that bad

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<v Speaker 1>luck would come to the child if anything happened to

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<v Speaker 1>the tree. The elm was one of the favorite trees

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<v Speaker 1>planted in this way. It was also planted in front

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<v Speaker 1>of the churches. Almost all of the old churches in

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<v Speaker 1>France have an elm, so planted the people thought that

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<v Speaker 1>they brought good luck. There are other elm trees which

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<v Speaker 1>are somewhat like the white elm. You may know them

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<v Speaker 1>by their alternate leaves, one side of which is smaller

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<v Speaker 1>than the other, and by the veins, which stand out

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<v Speaker 1>like branching ridges. They have also a round, flat, winged fruit.

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<v Speaker 1>One of these is the bread elm or slippery elm,

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<v Speaker 1>which grows in rich soil on river banks or hillsides,

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<v Speaker 1>but is also planted in cities. It looks as if

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<v Speaker 1>it had once lived in a colder place, for its

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<v Speaker 1>bud scales are lined with rusty wool, Its flowers and

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<v Speaker 1>seeds are wooly, and even its twigs are downy. The

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<v Speaker 1>leaves are from four to eight inches long. The inner

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<v Speaker 1>bark is sticky when wet, giving it the name slippery elm.

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<v Speaker 1>Some have a very thick, corky bark. The cork elm

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<v Speaker 1>is of this kind. Its branches are not smooth and round,

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<v Speaker 1>but swell out in a strange, irregular shapes. The winged

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<v Speaker 1>elm has the cork arranged as a wing on either

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<v Speaker 1>side of the stem. Its leaves are much shorter than

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<v Speaker 1>those of the other elms. You will also find a

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<v Speaker 1>great many Scotch and English elms. Neither of these are

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<v Speaker 1>tall and erect like the American elm. The Scotch elm

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<v Speaker 1>has spreading or drooping branches. The fruit has a shallow notch.

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<v Speaker 1>It is not a native, though frequently planted. The English

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<v Speaker 1>elm is hardly so flat topped as the last, but

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<v Speaker 1>it branches more abruptly than the American elm. Its leaves

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<v Speaker 1>are much smaller and of a darker color. If you

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<v Speaker 1>look closely at an elm, you will find that it

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<v Speaker 1>has insect guests. Some of them may be fat little

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<v Speaker 1>grubs with white bodies, black dots and a black stripe.

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<v Speaker 1>These are later transformed into white and green leaf beetles.

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<v Speaker 1>The kanker worms are of several colors, but each has

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<v Speaker 1>a yellowish stripe on the side and two white bands

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<v Speaker 1>on the head. They often eat the tree quite bare.

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<v Speaker 1>There are also some very large green caterpillars with saw

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<v Speaker 1>like teeth down the back and white lines on the side.

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<v Speaker 1>These become hawk bads later in the fall. Elms are

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<v Speaker 1>subject to the attacks of webworms. The birds are a

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<v Speaker 1>protection against the insects, and are on this account friends

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<v Speaker 1>of the trees. The Baltimore oriole is especially fond of

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<v Speaker 1>the elm, and its hanging nest is more often seen

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<v Speaker 1>in that tree than in others. End of Chapter two

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<v Speaker 1>recording by John van stan Savannah Georgia,