THE ASH. 61 



drippings of its leaves are peculiarly noxious. The roots 

 dislike the presence of stagnant water, but delight to 

 approach as closely as possible to the gravelly bed of a 

 running stream. Owing to these instincts, if they may 

 be so called, the Ash outstrips any other tree when it 

 grows on the shallow rich soil which lines the course of 

 our mountain streams. " It is by no means convenient to 

 plant Ash in plow-lands, for the roots will be obnoxious 

 to the coulter ; and the shade of the tree is malignant 

 both to corn and grass, when the head and branches over- 

 drip and emaciate them. The Ash delights in the best 

 land, which it will soon impoverish, yet grows in any, so 

 it be not over stiff, wet, and approaching to the marshy, 

 unless it be first well drained. By the banks of sweet and 

 crystal rivers and streams I have observed them to thrive 

 infinitely." 1 



The young plants are readily distinguished from other 

 saplings in winter and early spring by their ash-coloured 

 tint, their remarkable black buds, and the flattened or 

 compressed shape of the twigs, a peculiarity which is most 

 perceptible near the terminal pair of buds. In summer 

 the leaves are a no less certain distinguishing character. 

 They are technically termed pinnate, and are composed 

 of about five pairs of acute, notched leaflets, with a ter- 

 minal odd one, which last is occasionally not developed. 



The foliage of the Ash is very late in making its 

 appearance : consequently in early spring it cannot com- 

 pete in beauty with other forest trees which are less 

 sluggish in donning their green attire. It is equally 

 remarkable, too, for the earliness of the season at which 

 it sheds its foliage. 



" Its leaf is much tenderer than that of the Oak, and 

 sooner receives impressions from the winds and frost. 

 Instead of contributing its tint, therefore, in the wane of 

 the year, among the many-coloured offspring of the woods, 

 it shrinks from the blast, drops its leaf, and in each scene 

 1 Evelyn's Sylva. 



