Trees, Shrubs and Vines 
of the ‘‘ Pond,’’ not far from the cottonwoods. Color- 
tones of landscape are like tones of melody ; an extensive 
view, like a grand aria, calls for the widest range of the 
gamut; a miniature scene, like a simple folk-song, is 
overwrought if it strikes the depths and heights. 
AsH TREES.—A class of trees of no very special note 
is the Ashes (/raxinus). Their names—red, white, 
green, blue, black—raise false hopes as to their beauty 
and distinctiveness. Collectively, I make bold to say, 
it is an indifferent group, scarcely worth cultivating for 
ornament, and inferior as timber. A prominent writer 
says of the white ash that it is ‘‘the most beautiful of 
all the American species.’” She is entirely mistaken, 
the 4/ack ash is a much prettier tree ; its more numerous 
and stemless leaflets give a more slender, compact form 
to the leaf, which, moreover, isa dark, rich green, instead 
of the faded tint of the white ash. The black ash, in 
fact, is a rather dressy tree, and so is the blue; but the 
chief pleasure in finding a red or white ash is, that it 
adds another to one’s list of discoveries. The whole 
group contributes little or nothing to the display of 
autumn coloring. ‘The European species are not essen- 
tially different from our own. Ash and hickory having 
much similarity in foliage, it is well to have an easy 
means of distinguishing them. In the ash the leaves 
are always offosite on the stem, in the hickory they are 
always alternate, and the hickory leaflets are com- 
monly larger and broader. The long-winged and 
abundant fruit of the ash accounts for its wide dis- 
semination. 
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