The White Ash. 271 



ceeds best, however, in the former, but not upon clay nor sand. It 

 generally bears seeds early and abundantly every year. Its leaves 

 are often gathered as forage. The wood is used to advantage in 

 places always wet or always dry, but it does not bear alternate ex- 

 posures. The timber is especially valued in carriage- making, and 

 for various manufactures. 



1079. The genus Fraxinus includes about a dozen species within 

 the United States, the principal of which are the following : 



1080. WHITE ASH (Ftaximis Americana). This tree prefers a 

 deep and somewhat damp soil, and grows in congenial situations 

 rapidly and to a large size. The wood of second-growth white ash 

 lias, perhaps, no equal for lightness, elasticity, and strength, and is 

 largely used for the handles of forks, rakes, etc., scythe snaths, ag- 

 ricultural implements, carriage-making, cooperage, and other man- 

 ufactures, and when fcawn into thin boards it furnishes a highly or- 

 namental wood for joinery and carpenter work. 



1081. The large " burls" that form on its trunk are especially 

 valued for the making of veneers. The wood splits with great ease 

 and regularity, and is much used for hoops, basket work, and the 

 bottoming of chairs. 



1082. The white ash ranks among our best timbers, where grown 

 upon dry ground and under favorable conditions. The wood is 

 light, strong, elastic, and durable. As grown in open ground, it 

 gains rapidly in size, and the wood is of superior quality for scythe 

 snaths, fork-handles, and in wagon-making. In a dry climate it 

 does not grow as well as the green-ash, but the latter does not grow 

 to so large a size. 



1083. The ash is best raised from the seeds, which may be gath- 

 ered in the fall, and kept in a cool damp place till spring. They 

 may be planted like corn, but not over an inch in depth. They may 

 be transplanted from nurseries with facility, but do not get so early 

 a start as when planted where they are to remain. If planted in 

 rows, about three feet apart and two feet between trees, in a cool and 

 damp, but not wet soil, the alternate trees will, at the end of ten 

 years, afford the best of hoop-poles, and afterwards, at intervals of 

 ten or fifteen years, other thinnings of much greater value. As an 

 ornamental tree, it thrives finely in full exposure, but t.;e shade is 

 not d< nse. 



1084. The white ash grows in moist woods, from Canada to Flor- 



