Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



of the " Pond/' not far from the cottonwoods. Color- 

 tones of landscape are like tones of melody ; an extensive 

 view, like a grand aria, calls for the widest range of the 

 gamut; a miniature scene, like a simple folk-song, is 

 overwrought if it strikes the depths and heights. 



ASH TREES. A class of trees of no very special note 

 is the Ashes (Fraxinus). Their names red, white, 

 green, blue, black raise false hopes as to their beauty 

 and distinctiveness. Collectively, I make bold to say, 

 it is an indifferent group, scarcely worth cultivating for 

 ornament, and inferior as timber. A prominent writer 

 says of the white ash that it is "the most beautiful of 

 all the American species." She is entirely mistaken, 

 the black ash is a much prettier tree ; its more numerous 

 and stemless leaflets give a more slender, compact form 

 to the leaf, which, moreover, is a dark, rich green, instead 

 of the faded tint of the white ash. The black ash, in 

 fact, is a rather dressy tree, and so is the blue ; but the 

 chief pleasure in finding a red or white ash is, that it 

 adds another to one's list of discoveries. The whole 

 group contributes little or nothing to the display of 

 autumn coloring. The European species are not essen- 

 tially different from our own. Ash and hickory having 

 much similarity in foliage, it is well to have an easy 

 means of distinguishing them. In the ash the leaves 

 are always opposite on the stem, in the hickory they are 

 always alternate ; and the hickory leaflets are com- 

 monly larger and broader. The long-winged and 

 abundant fruit of the ash accounts for its wide dis- 

 semination. 



70 



