s a near
neighbour, the place never again seems the same.

The Elm is said to be the Worcestershire weed, as the oak is in
Herefordshire; the former attains a great size, but it is not very
deeply rooted, and a heavy gale will sometimes cause many unwelcome
gaps in a stately avenue. Big branches, too, have a way of falling
without the least notice, and on the whole it is safer not to have
elms near houses or cottages. One of the finest avenues of elms I
know, is to be seen at the Palace of the Bishop of Winchester at
Farnham in Surrey, but the land is quite exceptionally good, and in
the palmy days of hop-growing, the adjoining fields commanded a rent
of L20 an acre for what is known as the "Heart land of Farnham," where
hops of the most superlative quality were grown. When the dappled deer
are grouped under this noble avenue, in the light and shade beneath
the elms, they form an old English picture of country life not to be
surpassed.

The elm is a sure sign of rich land, it is never seen on thin poor
soils. An intending purchaser, or tenant, of a farm should always
regard its presence as a certain indication of a likely venture. It is
a terrible robber, and therefore a nuisance round arable land, causing
a spreading shade, under which the corn will be found thin,
"scrawley," and "broken-kneed," with poor, shrivelled ears; and the
alternating green crops will also suffer in their way. In an orchard
it is still worse; I had several at one time surrounded by Blenheim
apples, which were always small, scanty, and colourless. Eventually, I
cut the elms down, the biggest, carrying perhaps 100 cubic feet of
timber at 9d. a foot at the time, was only worth 75s., though it must
have destroyed scores of pounds worth of fruit during its many years
of growth. The elm seems particularly liable to be struck by
lightning, possibly owing to its height, and several suffered in this
way during my time at Aldington.

From the scarcity of oak in the Vale of Evesham elm was often used for
making the coffers or chests we generally see made from the former
wood. I have one of these, nicely carved with the scrolls and bold
devices of the Jacobean period, and it is so dark in colour as to pass
at first sight for old oak. The timber is not much used in building,
except for rough farm sheds; as boards it is liable to twist and
become what is called "cross-winding." The land in the New Forest is
mostly too poor for the elm, and this should wa