MAY 99 



the aspen, and the Scots fir, made up the staple of the 

 primitive British forest. 



It is the ash which, more than any other tree, dis- 

 tinguishes the landscape of the northern half of this 

 island from that of the southern. Somewhere within 

 the confines of Staffordshire, one travelling on the 

 London and North- Western line passes out of the zone 

 of oak and elm into that of ash and sycamore. In 

 place of the heavy-headed elms (like the sycamore, an 

 importation in Roman times) that cluster round home- 

 steads of the Midlands, the northern garths are circled 

 round by ash-trees, melancholy enough at this present 

 time of writing ; but so soon as the gates of the east 

 wind shall be shut till another spring, to be clothed 

 upon with such gracious foliage as to justify the meed 

 given by Virgil to this above other trees. 1 



Never in the history of Scottish seasons was there 

 more signal example of the merit of late leafing as in 

 that of 1894. There was much heat at Eastertide. 

 Grass shot up ankle deep in sheltered leas ; hawthorn 

 hedges decked themselves with green lace ; and precious 

 finery of all kinds was flaunted in garden and shrubbery. 

 Yet among all this rush of verdure, the grey ash-trees 

 and the brown heather alone made no sign : schooled 

 to useful patience by immemorial experience of northern 

 springs, their stirring sap gave no outward token of life. 



And now, to-day, this 22nd of May, may be seen 

 the right reason for their backwardness. The strong 

 north wind the very breath, as it were, of a vast ice- 



1 Fraxinus in sylvis pnlcherrimn. 



