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Show Historic Trees Threatened the Coolidge birch, several species set out under Hoover. Maples predominate, but the elms are next, and many have historic memories. Just southeast of the south portico is an elm said to have been planted by John Quincy Adams. There are others planted by Lincoln and McKinley. Under these trees history lives, but for beauty nothing surpasses the high arched cloister, clois-ter, thick-tapestried in summer, stark but graceful in silhouetted line in winter, which roofs my avenue. For years now I have walked back and forth to my labors under a Gothic roof of green, formed by the interlacing elm branches which, since Civil war days, have made my street one of the world's most beautiful avenues. Today there are some rude gaps in the raftered ceiling ceil-ing where huge branches have been ripped away by the wind and storm. But now there is a threat of greater devastation for our and other elm trees, ancient and historical, or merely beautiful, for the dreaded dutch elm disease has descended upon America two cases of virulent viru-lent infection have been discovered within the District of Columbia alone, and no cure is known My generation found nothing exotic In the idea of the village smithy under the spreading chestnut tree. Today the smith would have a tough job finding a chestnut tree under which to build his smithy, even if you could find the smith. For, thanks to the infamous chestnut blight, a horseehestnut tree in this country is now almost as rare as a horse. Must the elms go that way? I talked this question over with a member of the American Forestry For-estry Products Industries, Inc. (a : private industrial association). He I said: "A recent house action re- i duced the federal appropriation for the control and research of the European Eu-ropean beetle and dutch elm dis- j ease to $51,000. If the cut is approved ap-proved by the senate, it means the end of the dutch elm disease laboratory lab-oratory in Morristown, N. J.. where the department of agriculture's bureau bu-reau of entomology and plant quarantine quar-antine has conducted extensive research re-search into the control and possible prevention of the insect and fungus. An elm, according to official classification, is a "prized shade tree m the northeastern and central Uni'ed States." But passing over its esthetic value, consider that its "wood is used for variety of purposesespecially pur-posesespecially slack cooperage, market and bushel baskets, for heavy crating and for veneers. . . ." But what does an economaniac care for all that? Consider the White House grounds, for instance. In these quiet 18 acres there are something less than 350 trees comprising some 90 species. The two great magnolias planted close to the rear portico were placed there by Andrew Jackson. Jack-son. Nearly every president planted plant-ed a tree there is the Benjamin Harrison oak, the Harding beech. A wilting and partly defoliated 30-foot American elm severely affected af-fected with dutch elm disease. |