region of the Great Lakes; westward through Iowa, southern Min- 

 nesota, and eastern South Dakota; southward through eastern Ne- 

 braska and Kansas into northern Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 

 The white ash will undoubtedly prove a valuable tree for planting in 

 the arid regions on irrigated lands now being opened for settlement. 



HABITS AND GROWTH. 



The white ash prefers rich moist soil. The bottom lands of river 

 valleys in the mild climate of the west central portions of its range 

 produce the finest trees. A plantation will do best in a protected 

 valley, on sandy loam that is light and easily worked. The white ash 

 will thrive, however, in less favorable or even in adverse localities. 

 A porous subsoil is essential, and a water table at a depth of 10 or 12 

 feet is of decided advantage. For general planting in the semiarid 

 region of the Middle West the white ash is not so hardy and should 

 yield preference to the smaller green ash. 



Mature trees can endure only a moderate amount of shade, while 

 young seedlings will start in dense shade, but require considerable 

 light for their perfect development. 



The rate of growth is rapid when compared to that of most of the 

 associated hardwoods, but varies materially according to conditions 

 of moisture and situation. In the southern part of its range post 

 timber may be grown in ten or fifteen years. In a drier climate, where 

 conditions are not so favorable, from fifteen to twenty years are re- 

 quired for the average tree to attain post size. On dry prairies the 

 trunk is not more than 5 or 6 inches in diameter at twenty-five years. 

 Trees grown in a dense stand in the Farlington plantation in Kansas 

 made an average annual height growth of 1.7 feet and a diameter 

 accretion of one-fifth inch annually. This is very slow compared to 

 the rate of growth of other trees under similar conditions. 



White ash is attacked by a number of fungous parasites, which 

 grow on the living leaves and do more or less injury. These para- 

 sites rarely appear in sufficient numbers to do very much harm to the 

 tree affected. One specimen of fungus, which grows in the heartwood 

 of the trunk and branches, changes the wood into a soft, pulpy, yel- 

 lowish mass, unfit for lumber purposes. In regions where this dis- 

 ease is common the ash never grows to be a very large or very old 

 tree. In park or shade trees the disease may be prevented by coating 

 w r ounds with an antiseptic substance such as coal tar. 



White ash is also subject to insect injury. In case insects appear 

 in numbers sufficient to do serious harm specimens should be sent to 

 the Bureau of Entomology, where the insect will be identified and 

 measures suggested for its control. Large trees are often doty at the 

 base and sometimes have big heart cracks. 



[Cir. 84] 



