The inner bark of the tree has always been valuable. From it are made those mats of light brown grass which gardeners use to protect their delicate plants during winter; and these tails of dried-looking grass with which they tie bunches of flowers instead of using string, are also made from the Lime tree bark. This inner bark is called “bass” or “bast,” and is chiefly made in Russia and Sweden. It is from this bass or string that the tree gets its name, which is not really Lime, but Line or Linden, and is so called in other countries. We in Britain have got into the bad habit of mispronouncing the word. The true Lime tree is a cousin of the Orange and Lemon trees, and bears a yellow fruit called Limes. But the Linden tree is no relation of this Lime tree, and is so called because it is the tree from which we get gardener’s dried string or line, and we must remember that our popular name is a wrong one, and not the true name of the tree. PLATE VIII THE COMMON ELM AND WYCH OR BROAD-LEAVED ELM There are two kinds of Elm which grow abundantly in this country, and both are lofty, noble trees. The Common Elm (1) you will recognise easily, because its rough black trunk is clothed right down to the ground with a dense mass of brushwood. This brushwood is really a forest of small branches, and shoots, and twigs which spring from the Elm tree root; and if you separate some of these young shoots and plant them alone they will grow into young Elm tree saplings. In winter you will always know the Common Elm by its brushwood clothing, and in early spring, in March, after there have been a few sunny days, you will see tiny green leaf buds opening in this brushwood sheaf before the large upper branches show any signs of life. The Common Elm is one of our tallest trees. It has a thick rough trunk, on which are many large gnarled bosses or knobs. The bark of the tree is very rugged and is covered with many deep furrows. The branches of this Elm do not grow gracefully in sweeping curves like those of the Ash tree; they have a dwarf, zig-zag appearance, and often they are twisted and knotted. The young twigs that grow on these branches are short and tiny, a network of little bushy sprays growing close to the branch, and their bark is downy and corky when it is young, but becomes hard as the season advances.