what kind of elm?

[Tom Kurth]

I keep seeing elm bows posted here. What variety of elm are you using? Virtually all American elms are gone and anyone who cuts a survivor down should probably be cut down himself. To my knowledge (as a woodworker) Chinese elm is a trash tree, though bowmaking is has an entirely different set of desirables. Red elm I've heard of but know nothing about. Any other varieties out there? Perhaps non-North American?

Best,
Tom

[Olanigw (Pekane)]

American elm is still around, even if the old giants are few and far between.  It usually makes it to about 40 feet before the Blight hits it. We cut it down at the first sign of the disease before the wood is ruined.  The only ones that get big are isolated in a field.
There really aren't many "survivors", just trees that haven't been exposed.

The ones that aren't isolated are going to die, so I might as well get some use out of them before the wood's worthless.

[Pat B]

Red elm and winged elm both make good bows.

[mwosborn]

I know there are 2 asian elms that were introduced to the midwest - one called "chinese elm" and one called "siberian elm".  I really don't know much about either one and wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  Anyone familiar with these?  Is either one good for bow wood?  I am not dure if we have many others growing around my area.

[wapiti1997]

American elm and red (slippery) elm are both common native species and both good bow woods.  The Dutch elm disease mostly affects the American elm which tends to be 20 or so inches in diameter and produces lots of seed for several years before dying around here in KY.

[PatM]

They are actually doing studies on the large surviving trees and seeing evidence of strong resistance to the blight. They are not necessarily just lucky through isolation. Here in Canada they have a database with all the known large resistant trees and they are trying to cross the resistant ones that are too far apart to cross themselves.
 Nobody should feel guilty about cutting bow sized Elm.  Many of the trees are not resistant and they are just springing up from roots rather than seeds.
 The Asian elms are resistant to blight and they would have very likely gone through a similar decimation before rising from the ashes themselves. It doesn't happen overnight.
 Surely the American elms will eventually do the same.

[SLIMBOB]

The American Elm does fine here in Texas, so big stands of huge trees and plenty of it.  Not sure if it's our heat that prevents it or something else.  Our problem is Oak wilt which is doing to the Live Oaks and Red Oaks what the Blight is doing to the Elms in other areas.
American Elm and Cedar Elm are both plentiful here.
And by the way, I think PatM is right.  Our time line in which we view these things is so short.  Populations rise and fall just as temperatures rise and fall over tens of thousands of years, and we judge things over the last 50.

[Tom Kurth]

Thanks for the replies. I did not know that Am. elm could make it to reproductive age before the blight strikes. To my knowledge they have pretty much disappeared from the landscape here in the Midwest. Sounds like a similar pattern to chestnut blight, though I think chestnut endures because it continues to grow up from the stumps. We, too, are losing oaks though I don't think it has reached epidemic proportions yet. A bigger worry is the emerald ash borer. When we camp we no longer bring our own firewood and pay the outrageous prices at the campgrounds hoping to help stem the spread.

Best,
Tom

[PatM]

Here's an article briefly describing how resistant trees are being cloned to enhance the population of resistant trees.
  http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=33e91594-b329-453d-a4d5-62dba22f33b1
 

[DuBois]

Up here in Minnesota north of MSP I have seen a lot of elm that I believe is American elm. Largest seems to be around 12-14" range. Will sure be getting some this spring. Wish I had been more prepared the first month I started into this cause the city widened the road through town and dropped a whole lot of them, but, now the ones exposed closest to the road are real straight from years of seeking the light 

[ohma2]

ive got a giant american in the back yard it reminds of a time 40 plus years ago when i was climing for kc lawn and tree we did a million dollars worth of removals for k.c.mo.every thing between the street and curb came down.those elms were so large they canopied 4 lane boulevards.

[Bowman]

In Norway we have the scandinavian elm called wych elm. The color in the fresh greenwood is light yellow. It's the best bowwood in scandinavia. Better than ash and maple. We make 150# warbows of this quality bowwood.  It's a safe and stable choice. We have got disease on the trees  earlier, but lots of the elm's survived. In these days we have trouble with  disease on ash.

[Wiley]

We have american and red elm here, but it isn't very common.

If I cut one it would be with careful consideration with trees affected by blight being preferred, because it is soon to die anyways. If I found an area with a decent population of them, thinning them out would probably improve their chances of not contracting the disease if they haven't already. I would probably also consider getting some resistant cultivars from a local nursery and planting half of them near those trees in hopes that they may hybridize and produce new trees more likely to survive, the rest planted in isolated areas where they have a better chance of survival.

[Hrothgar]

Tom, we lost a lot of the big elms here in N. Missouri a couple decades ago. But I've notice literally hundreds of saplings that have sprung up along side the railroad tracks since the rails were replaced and tracks were straightened 30 years ago. I haven't examined them up close, but they're some kind of elm; if not slippery elm, then probably a hybrid of the Siberian elm. Very available and very straight trunk.