The massif of elms, which had been planted by Weiss in 1866 and reinforced by Azevedo Coutinho in 1958, exhibited signs of elm grafiosis (graphium ulmi). The importance of this group of trees led to the invitation of plant health experts to give an opinion on this serious situation. After considering the measures that these technicians advocated, which proved to be more palliative than curative, António Barreto proposed to replace the trees with nettle trees.