gbe- 



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The firfl: fort is the common Afli-tl'e?, which grows 

 niiturAly in mod parts of England, and is fo well 

 known as to need no defcription. The leaves of this 

 Ibrt have generally five pair of lobes, and are termi- 

 nated by an odd one; they are of a very dark green, 

 and their edges are flightly fawt^d. Tiie Howcrs are 

 produced in loofc fpikes from the fide of the branches, 

 which are fjccecdcd by flat feeds, which ripen in au- 

 tum^n ; there is a variety of this with variegaced leaves, 

 v/hich is prcferved in fome gardens. 

 The fecond fort grows naturally in Calabria, and is 

 , generally fuppofed to be the tree from whence the 

 . manna is collefted, which is an exfudation from the 

 leaves of the tree. The llioots of this tree are much 

 fliortcr, and the Joints clofer together than thofe of 

 thic firft fort •, the hnall leaves are (horter, and deeper 

 fav/ed on their edees, and are of a lighter crecn. The 

 flowers come out from the fide of the branches, which 

 are of a purple colour, and appear in the fprinj 

 fore the leaves come out; This tree is of humble 

 growth, feldom rifing more than fifteen or fixteen 

 feet high in England. 



■ The third fort is a low tree, which rifes about the 

 fame height as the fecond ; the leaves of this fort are 

 much fmaller and narrower than thofe of the firft, but 

 are fawed on their edges, and are of the fame dark 

 colour. The flowers of this fort have petals, which 

 are wanting in the common Afli. 



Hie fourth fort was raifed by the late Dr. Uvedale at 

 Enfield, from feeds which were brought from Italy by 

 Dr. William Sherard, where the trees grow naturally ; 

 but it was fuppofed to be a different fort from that 

 mentioned by Dr. Morrifon, in his Pr^ludia Botanica, 

 but by comparing them together they appear to be 

 the fame. 



I'he leaves of this fort have but three or four pair 

 of lobes (or fmall leaves) whkh are fhort, broad, and 

 fmooth, of a lucid green, and irregularly fawed oh the 

 edges ; the midrib of the great leaf is jointed, and 

 fwelling where the leaves come out. The flowers 

 grow in loofepanlclesattheend of the branches-, thefe 

 are molt of them male, having two ftamina in each, 

 but no germen or ftyle ; they are of a w^hite herba- 

 ceous colour, and appear in May. As this fort very 

 rarely produces feeds in England, it is propagated by 

 grafting or budding it upon the common Aih. 

 The fifth fort was raifed from feeds, which were fent 

 . from New England in the year 1724, by Mr. Moore. 

 The leaves of this tree have but three, or at mofl but 

 four pair of lobes (or fmall leaves) which are placed 

 far diftant from each other, and are terminated by 

 an odd lobe, which runs out into a very long point ; 

 they are of a light green and entire, having no ferra- 

 tures on their edges : this tree flioots into ftrong irre- 

 gular branches, but doth not grow to a large fize in 



■ the trunk. It is propagated by grafting it upon the 

 common Alh, ■ 



The fixth fort was raifed from feeds which were 

 fent from Carolina in the year 1 724, fcy Mr. Catefby. 

 The leaves of this fort hath feldom more than three 

 pair of lobes, the lower being the leaft, and the upper 

 the largeflj thefe are about five inches long and 

 two broad, of a Hght'green colour, and flightly fawed 

 on their edges; the foot-ftalk, or rather the midrib, 

 of the leaves is taper, and has fhort downy hairs ; 

 the feeds are broader than thofe of the common A(h, 

 and are of a very light colour. As. this fort hath not 

 ^ yet produced feeds in England, it is propagated by 

 grafting it upon the common Afh. , . 



Thefe trees are now propagated in plenty in the 

 nurferies for fale, as there has been of late years a 

 great demand for all the hardy forts of trees and 



■ Ihrubs, which will live in the open air; but all thofe 

 trees which are grafted upon the common Afh, are 

 hot fo valuable as thofe which are raifed from feeds, 



■ . bccaufe the ftock grows much fader than the grafts ; 

 fo that the lower part of the trunk, fo far as the Hock 

 riles, will often be twice the fize of the upper -, and if 

 the trees ftand much expofed to the wind, the grafts 



^ arc frequently broken off to the (lock, af&cr they arc 



R A 



gVo^^n Co a large fize, which is a great difappoihtir.pn- 

 to a perfon after having waited ieveral years, to'^- 

 their trees fuddenly dcllroyed. Bcfidc,'if the v/ood 

 of either of the forts is valuable, it can be of Ji^u 

 tile Vv^hen the trees are fo raifed. 

 The fourth fort is generally planted for ornament 

 the flowers making a fine appearance when they ar* 

 in beauty, for almoft every brarxh is terminated b-- 1 

 large loofe panicle; fo that when the trees are lar^e 

 and covered with flowers, they are diftinguilhable at a 

 great diftance. 



AH the other forts ferve to make a N^ariety in planta- 

 tions', but have little beauty to recommend them 

 and as their wood feems to be greatly inferior to that 

 of the common Alh, fo there ihould be few of thefe 

 planted, becaufe they will only fill opthefpace where 

 better trees might grow. 



The common Afh propagates itfelf in plenty by rlie 

 feeds which fcatr-r in the autumn, fo that where the 

 feeds happen to fall in places where cattle do not come 

 there wilt be plenty of the plants come up in the fpri.'rg; 

 but v/here any perfon is defirous to raife a quantity tjf 

 the trees, the feeds fliould be fovrn as Iboh as they are 

 ripe, and then the plants will comic up the followino- 

 fpring ; but if the feeds are kept out of the ground 

 till the fpring, the plants will not come up till the 

 year after, which is the fame with all the ibits of Aft ; 

 that when any of their feeds are brought from abroad, 

 as they feldom arrive here before the fpring, the 

 plants muft not be expected to appear till the next 

 year; therefore the ground fiioukl be kept clean all 

 the fummcr w^here they are fown, and not difturbed, 

 left the feeds Ihould be turned out of the ground, or 

 buried too deep to grow ; for many perfons are too 

 impatient to wait a year for the growth of feeds, fo that 

 if they do not come up the firft year, they dig up the 

 ground, and thereby deftroy the feeds. •, 



When the plants come up, they muft be bept'cleaa " 

 from weeds during the fummer; and if they make'' 

 good progrefs in th,e feed-bed, they will be fit to 

 tranfplant by the autumn; therefore there ftiould be 

 fome ground prepared to receive them, and as fooa ■ 

 as their leaves begin to fall, they may be tranfplantcd. 

 In taking them up, there ihculd be care takea 

 hot to break or tear off their roots ; to prevent which, 

 they fhould betaken up with afpade, and notdranw 

 up, as is frequently praftifed ; for as many of the." 

 plants which rife from feeds will out-ftrip the others 

 in their growth, fo ii is frequently prailifed, to draw 

 up the largeft plants, and leave the fmaller to grow a 

 year longer before they are tranfplantcd ; and to avoid ' 

 hurting thofe which are left, the others are drawn out . 

 by hand, and thereby many of their t'oots are torn off 

 or broken ; therefore it is much the better way to 

 take all up, little or big together, and tranfplant them 

 out, placing the larger ones together in rows, and tKc ' ■ 

 fmaller by themfelves. The rov/s fhould be three ' 

 feet afunder, and the plants afoot and.a half diftance 

 in the rows •, in this nurfery they may remain t\^o 

 years, by which time they will be ftrong enough fo , 

 plant where they are to remain ; for the younger 

 they are planted out, the larger they will grow ; fo 

 that where they are defigned to grow large, they 

 fhould be planted very young ; and the ground whefc 

 the plants are raifed, fhould not be better than that 

 . where they are defigned to grow •, for when the plants 

 are raifed in good land, and afi:erward tranfplanted 

 into worfe, they very rarely thrive ; fo that it is much . 

 the beft method to make the nurfery upon a part c 

 the fame land, where the trees are defigned to be 

 planted, and then a fufficient number of trees m?.y 

 be left (landing upon the grognd, and thefe will out- 

 ftrip thofe which arc removed, and will grow to a 

 larger fize. " ' 



Where people live in the neighbourhood of Ain- 

 trees, they may fupply themfelves with plenty of fe^f- 

 fown plants, provided cattle are not fuffered to grax^ 

 on the land, for they will eat off the young plants, 

 and not fuffer them to grow -, but whefe the feeds f^U 

 in hedges, or where they are proteiled by bufhes, the 



5 ■ • . plants . 



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