DAVID SHARP
Associated Press
YARMOUTH, Maine (AP) — A massive elm tree nicknamed Herbie is long gone, but it is going to live on, thanks to cloned trees that are being made available to the public.
At 110 feet and more than 200 years, Herbie was the tallest and oldest elm in New England and survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease because of the devotion of his centenarian caretaker, Frank Knight, the late tree warden of Yarmouth, Maine.
The duo became famous after Knight spent half of his life caring for the tree, which he referred to as "an old friend." Knight realized he couldn't save the town's elms as they succumbed by the hundreds to Dutch elm disease. So he focused his efforts on one of them: Herbie.
Over five decades, Knight oversaw selective pruning of Herbie's diseased lim
