TREES IN NATURE 79 



who should presume to put his head under it. 

 Pliny tells us there is no tree whatsoever 

 which so well defends us from the heat of the 

 sun in summer, nor that admits it more kindly 

 in winter." Evelyn laments that, in his time, 

 there was but little success in growing this tree 

 in England. No such lament could be made 

 nowadays. 



The ash and the silver birch should perhaps 

 be mentioned together. Probably many would 

 hesitate to say which was the more beautiful 

 of the two ; but there would be few to say 

 that, of our common trees, the choice, for 

 beauty, did not lie between them. The ash 

 has the statelier, the silver birch the more 

 delicate beauty. Ruskin says there is no 

 lovelier tree in the world than the common 

 ash. Hamerton says of it : " The ash is one 

 of the most graceful trees we have, especially 

 when ornamented by her ' keys ' in the 

 early months of the year. The toughness 

 and strength of her wood, and its extraordinary 

 weight, are not at all suggested by the elegant 

 outward appearance of the tree, as the same 

 qualities are by the stout and rugged character 

 of the oak. The ash resembles some decep- 



