THE GROWTH OF THE ASH. 47 



light and air. Nurses in the form of other trees may 

 be sometimes useful during the first fifteen years of 

 their growth, but in their permanent character they 

 must not be interfered with by other trees. 



The value'of the ash as timber varies considerably, 

 according to the soil upon which it is grown. Ash 

 grown on loose boggy soils is worth about tenpence 

 per cubic foot, but the timber which has been raised 

 on hazelly loams, and other favourable situations, 

 fetched one' shilling and fourpence and one shilling 

 and sixpence per cubic foot some years ago, and I 

 doubt not but that the prices are considerably higher 

 now. 



The late Earl of Leicester planted the ash very 

 extensively at Holkham, in different soils and in 

 various situations, and the result illustrated, in a very 

 forcible manner, the necessity for fixing upon a site 

 suited to the habit and nature of this tree. Some trees 

 at fifty years old contained only thirty cubic feet, 

 while others at the same age, and planted at the same 

 time, contained seventy-six. 



The soil should always be trenched for the recep- 

 tion of the ash, and holes made with the common 

 garden spade, three feet apart, if the situation be 

 high, half of them being intended to act as nurses 

 to the others, which will take 5,000 plants per acre. 

 In a sheltered situation, however, five feet asunder 

 will be sufficient, or 500 nurses and 1,700 principal 

 plants per acre. 



The ash is propagated by seeds, which are ripe in 

 November, and should always be taken from the best 

 trees. When gathered they should be lain in a pit 

 made in a light porous soil, and left open. They 



