THE ASH TREE. 267 



possesses no other tree which is at all its equal for carriage- 

 building, while west of the Rocky Mountains there is but^a 

 single one which can supply its place ; an ash (Fraxinus 

 Oregana, Null.) which, developing into a large and valuable 

 timber tree in Oregon, is less frequent and less valuable south 

 of the California line. Of the economic value of several 

 ashes which grow on the Eastern Asiatic seaboard, nothing 

 is as yet known. It seems, then, that the New England 

 States could command the markets of the world for one of 

 the most useful and valuable of all woods, had they but a 

 sufficient supply to offer. 



According to Mr. Thomas Laslett,* Timber Inspector to 

 the British Admiralty, the specific gravity of American ash 

 is 480, while that of the European is 736. The former is, 

 therefore, on account of its greater lightness, far more valu- 

 able for the handles of shovels, spades, hoes, rakes and other 

 hand implements. 



According to the United States census of 1870, the number 

 of spades, shovels, rakes, hoes, and hay -forks made in that 

 year was 8,347,478, and as our exportation of such imple- 

 ments is rapidly increasing, although still in its infancy, it is 

 evident that the value of ash will be greatly enhanced at no 

 distant day. It is also used in making ships' blocks, in 

 turnery, and for making the oars of boats. In speaking of 

 the white ash, Laslett says : " It stands well after seasoning, 

 and hence we get from this tree the best material for oars for 

 boats that can be produced. They are much and eagerly 

 sought after by foreign goverinnents as well as our own, and 

 also by the great private steamship companies and the mer- 

 cantile marine of this country ; consequently there is often a 

 very keen competition for the possession of them." The manu- 

 factory of oars (surely a seaboard industry), in pursuit of 

 material, moved from Massachusetts first to Maine, and then 

 to Ohio and other Western States. 



Ash is coming into extensive use for expensive furniture 

 and for the interior finish of houses, while an immense number 

 of the young saplings are annually consumed in the coopers' 



* Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign. By Thomas Laslett, Timber 

 Inspector to the Admiralty. London, 1875. 



