The Elm is generally raised by means of suckers, rarely from seeds. It delights in a sound, sweet, and fertile land, and a loamy soil. It thrives best in an open situation, and bears transplantation well. It may also be planted in good pasture grounds, as it does not injure the grass beneath; and its leaves are agreeable to cattle, which in some countries are chiefly supported by them. Evelyn says that in Herefordshire the inhabitants gathered them in sacks for their swine and other cattle. Fruitful in leaves the Elm. So prolific is this tree in leaves, that it affords a constant shade during the summer months, and for this reason it has been planted in most of the public and royal gardens in Europe. It is also of quick growth, as it will yield a load of timber in little more than forty years. The leaves are doubly serrated, that is, with small saws upon the larger ones, and unequal at the base. In autumn they are changed to yellow or ochre colour, enlivening the dark tints of the fir, rendering it scarce less agreeable than its juvenile shades. Its flowers, which are in clusters and bell-shaped, put forth towards the end of March. The wood of the Elm is hard and tough, and is greatly esteemed for pipes that are constantly underground. In the metropolis, before iron pipes were used, the consumption of this timber for conveying water, was enormous. It is also valuable for keels and planking beneath the water-line of ships, and for mill-wheels and water works. When long bows were in fashion, it was used in their manufacture, and the statutes recommend it for that purpose. SHADE TREES. MR. EDITOR: Allow me to call the attention of your readers, of the citizens generally, and especially of our Honorable Mayor and Council, to the Essays on Shading by Trees, our sidewalks and carriage ways, just published by Mr. Charles Parker of this city. His suggestions, with which I most cordially agree, must, I think, commend themselves to every mind as conclusive and of great practical importance. They are very timely, and though by an apparently indirect course, yet if carried out with spirit, they cannot but contribute to the welfare and prosperity of Charleston. Whatever will contribute to the health, comfort, coolness, and beauty of Charleston as a place of residence, and especially during our long and tedious summer, will and must contribute, in a very substantial manner, to its growth, and to the expenditure in it of incalculable sums now spent in seeking these primary blessings in other and more publicspirited communities. There is not a more suicidal policy than 48-VOL. VI. that which limits expenditure to the boundary of absolute present necessity. It is with a city as with a family and the family residence; make it comfortable, attractive and agreeable, and you do more to cultivate home feelings, home attachments and home pleasures, than by any amount of expenditure abroad, besides avoiding the moral dangers of foreign travel. A visit to the cities of the North will convince any one that while the necessity for attention to the shading and beautifying of their streets is immeasurably less than with us, the attention and expenditure given to these objects is immeasurably greater. A visit to Savannah, Augusta and Columbia will demonstrate to any doubter the most happy and beneficial effects resulting from a systematic plan of planting the streets. To the late Col. Blanding, Columbia is indebted for those colonnades of fastgrowing shade trees that constitute her greatest attraction, and will for ages perpetuate his cherished memory. I never behold and enjoy their exquisite beauty without blessing the public spirit and fine taste which led him to carry through the patriotic plan. Had it pleased Heaven to spare his invaluable life, Charleston would, I am sure, have exhibited in its similar improvement, another proud monument to his energy and patriotism; and Mr. Parker cannot confer a greater blessing on a coming generation, even if not encouraged as he should be by the present, than by using every requisite means to secure the full and general execution of his plans. They are as scientifically correct as they are tasteful and well conceived, and they will prove to be as economical as they will become a certain source of public benefit. In this climate, and cut off as we and our children are from the country, and rural walks and pleasures of other places, these improvements are, in my opinion, absolutely necessary. Every parent should most earnestly desire them. The moral influence of trees and shady walks-their power in drawing out the finer sensibilities of the soul, and in cherishing youthful genius, and their social effects, combine to justify the wisdom of the Chinese in regarding the man who plants a tree as a public benefactor. In this respect we may learn wisdom from the ancients, from all other countries, and from our own ances tors. Our fathers knew the value of a screen from sultry suns, and in their shaded walks and long protracted bowers, enjoyed at noon the delicious coolness of declining day. We bear our shades about us-self-deprived of other screen, the thin umbrella spread, and range an Indian waste without a tree. Let our City Council take the whole matter up, and with a "liberal soul devise liberal things," assured that "the liberal soul will become fat." The very men who would complain most loudly in view of such "a Quixotic attempt at public spirit," will be among its most ardent admirers when it is accomplished. The rich cannot refuse their proportion of the means, and the poor will be speedy and most sensible recipients of the resulting benefits, in possessing cool and shady retreats, where they may enjoy relief from the oppressive heat. Let then a systematic public plan be carried out, by which, gradually, we may have a covered shady walk or drive from the lines to the Battery, and through other portions of our city; and while the anticipation will be cheering to us, it will be most profitable and delightful to our children, and our children's children. CIVIS. |