Elm running sap??????

[markcasper]

Can anyone relate to what I witnessed last night? I was helping my dad with fieldwork and had my saw along as there was some brush crap that had just plain gotten out of hand.

There was an elm with several low hanging branches, around 3-4" diamater. A real bushy thing. I cut a few on the field side, cut the bigger part for syrup wood. As I was tossing the brush over the fence into the cow pasture, I noticed this elm was soaking wet and it was RUNNING! It was dripping out the end of this limb about every other second. What the heck I said to myelf, I have never seen an elm "run" before, on top of that its all leafed out and the last of May.

I let it drip into my mouth, but didn't taste like anything. I might add that I think this thing is in the early stages of elm disease. Several leaves were actually turning a whitish color.

Can anyone tell me if they have experinced an elm running? Maybe someone smarter than me will know.

I might add that it was very dry up until last Wednesday. We got some nice moisture late last week- a few inches of badly needed rain. I thought of this scenario too.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Been there an done that back in 2000 when i released about 50 wild apple trees for a N.H. Fish and Game Habitat project that i was paid for and got 17 cord of wood out of the deal to boot. There was a lot of "Slippery" elm in there and i tryed licking the oozing stump to see if i could taste some sugar. None but wish i would have had a refractometer with me to check it just for the kicks.

[royalmaple]

Maybe too much bar and chain left on the stump!

[HanginAround]

...i tryed licking the oozing stump to see if i could taste some sugar. None but wish i would have had a refractometer with me to check it just for the kicks.

LOL Wish someone had a camera there to catch you licking stumps :p

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Thats why the liquid taste funny/too much defoamer on the stump. :) all stumps will ooze out liquid water when cut as the tree needs to keep putting liquid up into the leaves or they'd shrivel up in a hurry. I have cut some 24-30" dia oak during the summer and stood and watched the water flow out the end and you could have put a cup under the butt end of the tree and got a drink from the liquid coming off it. Tryed licking that also to see if i could taste any sugar/none that i could detect.

Even when testing maple trees with the refractometer some that are way down in the low 1% range is hard to detect sweetness so to say/but if you had a tree that was testing say 4% you could really taste the sugar then. You can even taste and tell the difference in trees that are like .3 to .5 difference from one another.

Looks like i'll have to carry along the refractometer with me just for the heck of it when i cut trees down and do some experimenting on things. There is always something you can learn about.

Anyone tryed any Black "sweet" Birch? I like chewing on the twigs like a tooth pick now and then. Never have tryed licking a stump or log from that though/will give it a try soon. Boil it all up and start selling wintergreen oil.