108 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



other purposes which require strength and elasticity 

 combined with comparative lightness. 



At all ages the growth of the ash is of value : the 

 thinnings of young plantations, and the suckers that 

 spring up from the roots of grown trees, or from the 

 stools of trees that have been cut down, are excel- 

 lent for hoops, hop-poles, and every other purpose 

 where clean, light, and strong rods are wanted at 

 small expense. The leaves and even the twigs are 

 eaten by cattle with great avidity; the bark is useful 

 in tanning; and the wood yields, when burnt, a con- 

 siderable quantity of potash. 



The drip of the ash is injurious to most other 

 plants, and, therefore, when it is planted in corn- 

 fields, a certain portion round it is unproductive ; 

 but, in marshy situations, the roots of it, which run 

 a long way at a considerable depth, act as under- 

 drains. Hence the proverb, in some parts of 

 the country, " May your foot-fall be by the root 

 of an ash" may you get a firm footing. Some 

 idea of the change of times and opinions may 

 be formed from the value set upon the ash, in the 

 extract given from the laws of Howel Dda, in 

 the preceding notice of the yew-tree, wherein, 

 while a branch of misletoe is reckoned at thirty 

 shillings, an ash, not being named, must be classed 

 with " trees after a thorn," and therefore be rated 

 at fourpence ! In the useful arts, one good ash is 

 worth all the misletoe that ever grew, or ever will 

 grow. It is true that, since the Druids were suc- 

 ceeded by a more rational priesthood, and the mis- 

 letoe was changed from sacred to profane use, it has 

 been used in the manufacture of bird-lime; but it 

 may very reasonably be doubted whether any one 

 was ever engaged in using that article whose time 

 could not have been better employed. Such was the 

 veneration of some of the ancients for the ash, that 



