THE ASHES : THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND MANAGEMENT. 25 



are very harmful, except the ash-tree borer, which is serious and 

 lessens the value of the wood for lumber. 



A large number of insects attack recently felled ash timber. These 

 include a bark beetle, Hylesinus aculeatus, which also occurs in dying 

 standing trees; ambrosia beetles or pin borers (Platypus and Xylebo- 

 rus) ; a roundheaded borer, Neoclytus capria, destructive to sap- 

 wood of recently felled trees; and the powder-post borers, which 

 attack seasoned sapwood. By quick conversion of the felled tree 

 into lumber and by proper methods of handling, seasoning, and stor- 

 ing, losses of logs and lumber through insects can be nearly eliminated. 1 



There should be little or no danger of serious insect attacks on 

 young ash stands under management; nevertheless, the timber owner 

 should be on his guard, and if insects show signs of becoming destruc- 

 tive, he should communicate with the Bureau of Entomology, De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, for advice on the subject. 



FIRE. 



Small ash trees are easily fire-killed because of then thin bark. 

 With increasing size and age ash becomes thicker barked and more 

 fire resistant. Table 24, showing the thickness of bark of trees of 

 different sizes and species, indicates their relative fire resistance (see 

 Appendix, p. 53). Small ground fires, which do not kill standing 

 timber outright, are especially weakening to ash and lessen its rate 

 of growth because of damage to its surface-feeding root systems. 

 It is especially important to keep fire out of young stands. 



FORM AND DEVELOPMENT. 



Ash is a graceful and beautiful tree, whether growing in the forest 

 or alone as a shade or ornamental tree. Its compound pinnate 

 foliage and symmetrical and regular branching (PI. VIII) show to 

 advantage in contrast with the foliage and branching of the hard- 

 woods with which it commonly associates. 



Ash varies considerably in form and rate of growth in accordance 

 with the character of the site, the amount of growing space, and the 

 species. In general, on favorable sites and under normal forest 

 conditions, dominant ash trees with crowns receiving some direct 

 sunlight on the sides and full light on the tops grow rapidly in both 

 diameter and height, reaching a height of 60 to 80 feet and a diameter 

 of 10 to 20 inches in 40 years. Crowding on the sides, such as 

 codominant and intermediate trees are subjected to, cuts down the 

 rate of diameter growth and increases the clear length, but seems to 

 have little or no effect on the height growth, which persists and is 

 only appreciably lessened by the tree becoming overtopped. In 



1 See Circular 128, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture- "Insect Injuries to Forest 

 Products." 



