70 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



ancestral warriors were made of this wood " the tough ash 

 spear, so stout and true " of Sir Walter Scott. The twigs 

 and branches of ash were used for the feeding of deer in the 

 forests, and known under the name of Browse wood, and leaves 

 were dried and fed to cattle in the winter. Evelyn says that 

 the ash was sometimes preferred to oak for building purposes, 

 but probably only for rafters, etc., out of the reach of rain. 

 Indeed the wood of ash had so many uses, that Evelyn enjoins 

 every lord of a manor to sow one acre in every twenty with 

 ash or acorns, being little inferior to the oak in usefulness 

 or value. 



At the present day the ash is held in as much estimation 

 as ever, and is probably the most profitable hardwood tree 

 we have on suitable soils. It is still an important wood with 

 the wheelwright, and implement- and tool - maker, for its 

 toughness and lightness combined render it the only suitable 

 wood where elasticity and strength are required. The price 

 of first-class ash timber exceeds that of the oak, but it is a 

 tree which soon deteriorates in value if allowed to stand too 

 long, and at the same time is as good in quality when young 

 and small as when of mature age. It is therefore particularly 

 adapted for planting as a quick crop by itself or for coming 

 out as thinnings in oak woods, which take a long period to 

 mature. It has one failing as a tree for mixing with oak, 

 however, and that is its light - demanding nature and its 

 quicker growth. Unless precautions are taken the oak is apt 

 to get overtopped and overdrawn ; and although it may be a 

 question whether the ash is not of as much or more value 

 than the oak it is intended to nurse, this is a point which can 

 only be decided on the spot and by the objects of the planter. 



The soils best suited for ash are those fairly strong, deep, 

 moist, and well-drained ones so often found in chalk and 

 limestone districts, and which most frequently occupy the 

 slopes and the bottoms of ravines and valleys. In such 

 situations the ash often grows with incredible rapidity, and 

 produces timber of superior quality; and as these sites are 

 often unsuitable for cultivation and are frequently too wet 

 for high-class pasture, they cannot be more profitably utilised 

 than by growing ash upon them. But for ash timber of 

 superior toughness, soils which favour a comparatively slow 



