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206 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
There is considerable difference, as Iremember it, in the seeds. 
You know the ash seed has a long feathery wing to it. In the 
green ash it grows from the end, and on the white ash I think © 
it grows more from the sides. There is a great difference in 
the young limbs, too. The young limbs of the green ash are 
much thicker than those of the white ash. 
Mr. Underwood: They have a longer leaf and are greener 
in color. 
Vice-President Wedge: Is the timber equally valuable? 
Judge Moyer: It is about as valuable, though the tree does 
not grow as large. 
Mr. Underwood: I have noticed that the ash seems to thrive 
well even on poor soil. I know of some that were planted 
several years ago on a sandy patch of ground that was dry as 
anything could be. So far as I have noticed there have not 
been any failures, though the trees were planted on the road- 
side and received no care at all. Yet they seem to be develop- 
ing into handsome trees. I consider the ash one of the most 
valuable trees we cultivate, and I like them in the yard better 
than theelm. The elm is not as handsome a tree,and the winds 
break it to pieces more than the ash. If I had to sacrifice one 
or the other, I would give up the elm and save the ash. 
Vice-President Wedge: That is precisely my Own experi- _ 
ence. We have hard maple, soft maple, box elder and ash in 
our yard, to say nothing of the nut trees, the black walnut and 
the butternut. We also have the white elm. I presume our 
ash is the green ash. They were taken from the woods, any- 
how, and I value them considerably above any other tree that 
we have. These drouths that we have had of late years have 
been very hard on the box elder, especially. In the city of 
Albert Lea there are many dead box elders, hard maple, soft 
maple, butternut and some walnut—I think the butternut is the 
worst of the two nut trees—but the ash, though planted close to 
the street and in more unfavorable situations, have grown ad- 
mirably. I have heard some objection offered to them on ac- 
count of their foilage dropping early in the fall, but they color 
up a beautiful yellow before that takes place. 
Mr. Barrett: I wish, Mr. Chairman, that we might all em- 
phasize the value of the ash. In the region of country where I ~ 
live, way out at the head of the Minnesota river, we have green 
ash growing naturally. Wetransfer them to the prairie, and 
find by experience that the green ash will thrive in the grassy 
sod, although it has a struggle. Still, it lives when other, 
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