American Notes TREES

For centuries, magnificent elm trees graced the streets of American towns and cities, providing shade for all and inspiration for such writers as Eugene O'Neill (Desire Under the Elms). But since the 1930s, Dutch elm disease, spread by a pest called the elm bark beetle, has wiped out more than 100 million of the leafy giants. Now elms may be poised for a welcome return.

That hope springs from at least two major scientific efforts to develop elms more resistant to Dutch elm disease. Within the next two years, the National Arboretum in Washington will distribute to nurseries several new varieties of elms that are less vulnerable to the Dutch elm disease fungus. Researchers believe that the new elms will be able to thrive even in the polluted conditions found in many cities.

In Harrisville, N.H., the Elm Research Institute has funded a project headed by Dr. Eugene Smalley of the University of Wisconsin to come up with a hardier elm. The tree is called the American Liberty Elm (after a famed Massachusetts tree under which George Washington purportedly took command of the Continental Army in 1775). The American Liberty has a smaller cell structure that prevents Dutch elm disease from spreading through the tree's vascular system. So far, Elm Research has distributed 75,000 of the new trees for prices ranging from $ $2 to $5 each, a good start on its target of 1 million by the turn of the century. Says John Hansel, the institute's director and founder: "We will start seeing some beautiful streets again in ten years."