100 FUAXIMS AMKKICANA 



south of it. In the- upper part of Nrw I lauip.^liirc ii is always arrnniiiauicd by 

 llic while I'hn. (lluius aiuciicuua,) yellow Ijuch, (IJetiila excelsa,) whue uiaple, 

 f Acer eriocarpuin.) hemlock spruce, (Ahios canaihMisis,) and the black sj)ruce 

 (Abies niixra) ; and in New Jersey, it is niiu^led with the red maple, (Acer 

 ruhruni.) .sliell-l)ark hielcory. (t'arya alba.) and tlie syrainore-tree (IMatanus 

 occidentalis.) 



This species was first introduced into Britain by Mark Catcsby, in IT'i'.i; and, 

 in about the year IS'JC), wiien Cobbctt became a nurseryman, and strongly recom- 

 mended various kinds of Ameriean tre(>s, several plautatinus of the white ash 

 were formed, in iliti'erent parts t)f Mngland ; but a sullieieiit time has not yet 

 elapsed to judge of the value of the tree, as compared with the common I'^uropean 

 ash. Ill the neiglibourhood of London, young trees are generally more or less 

 injured by the spring frosts; nevertheless^ in Surrey, at St. Ann's Hill, there is a 

 specimen, which, in thirty-six years after planting, had attained the height of 

 thirty-tliree feet. 



In France, at Clairvault, there is a tree of this species, which had attained the 

 height of tiiirty feet, in thirty years after planting. 



In Russia, tlie American ash, and several of its varieties, are planted in the 

 government garden, at Odessa, and it is stated by M. le Chevalier Descemet, 

 conseiller de cour, that they liave the great advantage of prospering in soils 

 where the European ash will languish. " They are not," says he, " like Frax- 

 inus excelsior, subject to lose their leaves by the ravages of the insect Cantharis 

 vesicatoria, in the middle of summer, and may, consequently, be planted in the 

 neighbourhood of dwelling-houses. They resist the burning heats of summer 

 much better than the European ash-tree, and maintain a deep-green foliage during 

 the hottest weather, when that of the common ash becomes pale, and very fre- 

 quently withers and drops." "In short, the American ash-trees," he adds, 

 ' deserve to be extensively cultivated in forests, in lines for bordering roads, and 

 in small groups in parks and pleasure-grounds." 



It is stated by Mr. John Pearson, in a communication to Dr. James Meas^:, in 

 the "Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture," for the 

 y.ear 1807, that, in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, there were white ash-trees five 

 feet in diameter, and from fifty to eighty feet in length. 



Soil, Situation, Propagation, <^'c. The most favourite situations of the Frax- 

 inus americana are the banks of rivers and streams, the edges or acclivities of 

 swamps, where the soil is deep and fertile, and intermingled with the fragments 

 of rocks. The propagation and culture of this tree is the same as that of the 

 European species. 



Insects, Accidents, S^c. The Fraxinus americana, like its European congener 

 is but little subject to accidents and to the attacks of insects. The only insects 

 that prove particularly injurious to tliis tree, are the larvae or borers of the Tro- 

 chiliuni denudatmn, described by Dr. Harris, in "Silliman's Journal of Science," 

 and also in his " Report on the Insects of Massachusetts injurious to Vegetation." 

 These borers perforate the bark and the sap-wood of the trunk of the ash, from 

 the roots upwards, and are also found in all the branches of any considerable 

 size. The trees thus infested soon show symptoms of disease, in the death of 

 The branches near the summit; and when these insects become numerous, the 

 trees no longer increase in size and height, and premature decay and death ensue. 

 These insects assume the chrysalis form in June and July, when they may be 

 seen projeciing half way out of their round holes in the bark of the trees, during 

 which months, their final transformation is eflJ'ected, when they burst forth, and 

 escape in the winged state. 



Propcj'ties and Uses. The wood of the white ash, in young, thrifty trees, is 

 very white from the bark to the centre; but in larce. old trees, the heart- wood is 



