The neatest and most beautiful of these forms is the parasol. This
variety is seen in those elms which have grown to their full height in
the forest, and were left by the woodman in the clearing; for such is
the general admiration of this tree, that great numbers of them are left
in clearings in all parts of the country. The State of Maine abounds in
trees of this form, sending forth almost perpendicularly a number of
branches, that spread out rather suddenly at a considerable height, in
the shape of an umbrella. Trees of this type have much of that grandeur
which is caused by great height and small dimensions, as observed in a
palm-tree. A remarkable trait in the character of the Elm is, that,
unlike other trees, it seldom loses its beauty, and is often improved in
shape, by growing while young in a dense assemblage. It is simply
modified into a more slender shape, usually subdivided very near the
ground into several branches that diverge but little until they reach
the summit of the wood. Other trees, when they have grown in a dense
wood, form but a single shaft, without lateral branches.