28 MARCH 1947, Page 17

An Old Giant

At the time when the gales toppled over the elms I happened to saw through an elm that had fallen years earlier. The diameter of the trunk was about two feet six inches and the annual rings were so clearly defined that I was persuaded to count them. The age proved to be as nearly as possible 140 years ; and I should take that to be about the average limit of age for the species, though of course there are many trees of exceptional longevity. One relic in Richmond Park must be more, than double that age. Roads, I think, are particularly vulnerable because the shallow roots of flanking elms are liable to be cut in making the road, though this also tends to make the tree fall away from the less prehensile roots.