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and Acton Tnrville. Many of j'ou know those places, and would 

 at once say that neither of them now are remarkable for 

 abundance of Oaks, and there is no doubt, that not only in those 

 places but throughout England, the Oak is becoming scarce, 

 except where preserved in parks or such places. The reason is, as 

 I suppose, that though the Oak ripens a very large quantity of 

 fruit (in this respect being unlike the Elm which never ripens 

 any in England), yet both the acorn and the young tree are 

 searched for as food for so many animals, that you seldom find 

 a colony of Oak seedlings except in sheltered and protected 

 places.* The Oak is seldom planted, as planters now look out for 

 a rapid growing tree instead of one " datura nepotibus umbram " 

 — and when cut down it dies, in that respect also being unlike 

 the Elm, and Poplar, and some other trees, which when cut down 

 often send up large colonies of saplings from the roots, which not 

 only soon take the place of the parent tree, but largely extend 

 its bounds. 



The Ash is an undoubted native — and probably less than two 

 hundred years ago it was the most abundant of the wild trees of 

 England, and was probably as abundant in the south of 

 England as it is still in the north. Its great abundance is shown 

 by the many places named after it. In the last edition of Lewis' 

 " Topographical Dictionary " there are no less than 122 places in 

 which the Ash forms a distinct part of the name, and there are 

 perhaps as many in which the word is more or less hidden, and 

 of these 122 a large portion are in the south of England. In our 

 neighbourhood we have Cold Ashton, Long Ashton, Steeple 

 Ashton, Eood Ashton, Ashwick, and others ; and we have the 

 common family name of Nash. But now the Ash is not one of 

 our most common trees, and the reason is that it has been 

 pushed out of our hedgerows by the 



* Tusser pointed this out long ago ; — 



" If cattle or coney may enter to crop, 

 Young oak is in danger of losing his top." 



