TEEES FOE WATER CATCHMENT AREAS 151 



agriculture, and often produces fine crops of timber. 

 Here ash mixed in small quantities amidst the beech 

 forms very remunerative thinnings in the middle part 

 of the life of the wood, and in all cases should be felled at 

 from 60 to 80 years old, for if left longer it becomes unsound. 

 In the preliminary survey of large areas for planting, 

 situations suitable for ash should be specially looked for. 

 These will be found along water courses on the slopes of 

 hills, on the sides of ravines where the water percolates 

 through from the ground above, and in the valleys on the 

 deep soil not far from the banks of the streams. On such 

 sites, ash should be freely planted, mingled with other trees, 

 like beech, larch, elm, sycamore, and oak. 



Ash should never be planted on poor, dry, or shallow 

 soils. It does not thrive on pure sand, on gravel, on dry 

 chalk, on stiff clay, or on wet peat. At high altitudes and 

 on unsuitable soils it remains small in size, and usually 

 decays at an early age, producing timber of little value. 

 It becomes black-hearted under such circumstances before 

 it reaches fifty or sixty years old. 



Ash is injured when young by late spring frosts in low- 

 lying situations, and here requires nurses for its protection. 

 The terminal bud is often destroyed, and forked growth 

 results. No tree suffers more from rabbits than ash ; 

 and the cultivation of this species is impossible where 

 rabbits are numerous, unless stringent measures are 

 adopted to kill these pests and keep them out of the 

 plantations. 



Ash should be regularly thinned in order to give the 

 best trees the requisite amount of light and space. Such 

 thinnings are generally saleable, as young ash provides 

 useful wood. Felling may take place when the trees are 

 60 to 80 years old or earlier; and if gradually carried 

 out, the old stand may be replaced by the seedlings 

 which have usually sprung up, and natural regeneration 

 be easily effected. In other words, when a group of ash 

 is felled, planting is rarely necessary, as the self-sown 

 seedlings can be utilised to form the new crop. 



