Thread: 100 year old elm

Heres the web link
http://www.dovebid.com/Auctions/Auct...uctionID=10052

I can get that page OK but noit the bidding page

AaaaaaaH Elm. Brings back many happy memories. Back in the good old days before pigs fibre, all dart boards in the UK was made from Elm. Then the Dutch Elm disease took hold and the rest is history.

There was nothing like the thud of a dart hitting an elm board, and the dart used to stay in. The wires were embebbed into the board and almost half as thin as the firbe boards. The only problem was that they had to be kept in water until match night, but it was a good price to pay.

whats dutch elm disease ? did all the elm trees in england die ?

Originally Posted by Zed

whats dutch elm disease ? did all the elm trees in england die ?

Not sure if you are serious, but dutch elm disease has basically wiped out european (english) and american elms throughout the northern hemisphere. There is very little intrinsic resistance to the spread of the disease, apparently the world price of elm has climbed dramatically due to the decline in tree numbers.

Don't suppose anyone could post a pic of dutch elm disease.
I've got elms growing wild in the aussie bush and would like to keep an eye on them

Originally Posted by Zed

whats dutch elm disease ? did all the elm trees in england die ?

Zed and Echidna, look here:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/ext...ms/dtchelm.htm

or here:

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/pla...ees/pp324w.htm

or maybe even here:

http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/microbes/dutchelm.htm

They are hoping for a preventative treatment here:

http://www.elmguard.com/

Let's hope it works, we need more trees.

We don't have dutch elm disease in Australia at this stage. It is a fungal disease, that is carried by the Elm leaf beatle. we do have the Elm leaf beatle in Australia, so it is only a matter of time before the disease finds its way here.

If you see an Elm tree with the leaves covered in shot holes, that is elm leaf beatle attack.

I understand that the Melb City Council will be progressively replacing old street plantings, so there'll be elm around here for some time to come.

It's an underrated turning timber; with cream sapwood and chocolate heartwood you can get some fine effects on bowls. Only wrinkle is that the UV turns it all into a pretty boring grey-brown over time. (Read of a UV-resistant varnish coming out of the US tho.).

The Japanese version (or so I am told) has orange wood and it's distantly related enough to not suffer for Dutch elm.

If I had a choice, I'd use it all the time, especially for turning. Beautiful stuff.