872 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



that they should be turned over several times during the year before sowing, but I 

 have not found this necessary ; and with regard to the time of sowing, it should be 

 put off as long as possible, because the natural germination of the seed takes place 

 six to eight weeks before the tree comes into leaf, and the tender seedlings are thus 

 often injured and killed by late frost. Therefore I advise storing them in a cold place, 

 and not sowing until they begin to germinate. If they come up too thickly and 

 survive the first spring, they may be transplanted in the following March or April, 

 which will tend to check their early leafing, but if thin on the ground they may be 

 allowed to stand two years before transplanting into rows. At three, or at most four, 

 years old, they will be fit to go out permanently, the stronger side branches and 

 double leads, if any, being first pruned. If intended for copsewood, they must be 

 cut over in the month of April, two or three years after planting, and any pruning 

 necessary to older trees should be done in summer or early autumn, so that the 

 wounds may heal as soon as possible. The tree makes an abundance of fibrous 

 roots, and unless these are allowed to become dry, the proportion of loss from trans- 

 planting should be very small, and transplanting may be done later than in the case 

 of most hard woods. 



For ash coppice, 4 or 5 feet apart is the right distance ; for timber trees, they 

 may be alternated with spruce or larch, which will keep them from becoming 

 branchy. The cutting of the stools must be done with a sharp knife or axe as near 

 the ground as possible, and with an upward cut, and the poles removed at latest by 

 the middle of May, as much harm is caused by getting the poles away after the 

 stools have begun to push new growth. 



One of the best examples of copse-grown ash that I have seen in England is 

 the Walk Copse near Buckhold, Berks, where a number of tall, slender, clean poles, 

 believed by Dr. Watney to be about sixty years old, have originally sprung up from 

 seed, in a plantation once largely composed of silver firs. Though the soil is a flinty 

 clay, now of little agricultural value, the majority of these trees are 90 to 100 feet 

 high, by 3 to 4 feet in girth, and quite clean to 50 or 60 feet. One of the best was 

 quite straight and clean to 65 feet high, but only about 3 feet in girth. Such poles 

 as these are much sought for by agricultural implement and coach makers, and are 

 worth from 2s. 6d. to 3s. per foot. 



Remarkable Trees 



I do not know of any ash at present alive in England which equals in size a tree 

 mentioned by Loudon as growing near Moccas Court, Herefordshire, on the edge of 

 a dingle. This had immensely large roots, running on the surface for 50 feet or 

 more down the steep hillside, and a clear trunk of 30 feet long, 7 feet in diameter 

 at 15 feet from the ground. This, including three large limbs, was estimated 

 to contain 1003 cubic feet of timber. This ash is remembered as a marvellous 

 tree, though quite decayed, by the Rev. Sir George Cornewall, who told me that 

 not a vestige of it now remains. 



The tallest living ash trees I have seen or heard of are in a grove near the 



