80 ABNORMAL FRUITING OF THE COMMON ELM.
that friends of ours in Anglesea have had the same experience in regard to the
germination of the seeds from the elm this year.
The evidence of Mrs. Sampson Marriage, of Broomfield,
near Chelmsford, is to exactly the same effect. Writing me on
27th November, she says that the ready germination of the
seeds of the elm "has been constantly under our notice all the
past autumn, and seedling elms, a foot high, have been this day
uprooted in our vegetable garden."
No doubt the germination was general, but it would be
interesting to have definite records from elsewhere.
The effect on the trees themselves of their extraordinary
productivity this year remains to be seen in future years. Such
a perfect orgy of fructification must surely have some exhausting
effect on the trees. Any trees which have remained bare of
leaves throughout the autumn may be regarded as dead, and it
seems probable that all the rest will suffer to some extent. The
point is one on which it is desirable that observations should be
made in the coming spring—that of 1910.
Postscript.—The lapse of twelve months since the foregoing
article was written enables me to record the result of observa-
tions on the fruiting of the elms in the spring of this year
(1910)—or, rather, on their lack of fruiting.
Events have turned out exactly as I anticipated they would.
Practically speaking, the elms have nowhere fruited, or even
flowered, this year—a phenomenon due, without any doubt, to
exhaustion arising from what f called the "perfect orgy of
fructification" in which they indulged last year (1909).
I am able to state these facts with considerable confidence as
a result of my own observations; for it so happened that, during
the period when the elms usually flower and fruit (namely,
March, April, and May), f moved about a good deal. Not only
did I visit many parts of Essex (in which I live), but I saw also
a large part of Gloucestershire. Late in March, I visited
Northern France (Picardy). During April, I passed through
the entire length of Belgium, staying some time in the valley of
the Meuse, and then went further south, seeing a considerable
area of North-Eastern France. Everywhere I found the same
thing—the elms were neither fruiting nor flowering. Only on
two occasions during the whole spring did I see any departure