THE OTHER HARDWOODS _ 155 
Ash is in all respects a hardy tree, though it is 
very apt to lose the terminal buds of its shoots. 
This forces on it a typically-forked habit of 
growth, favourable to the production of prettily- 
grained furniture wood, but spoiling the bole for 
ordinary technical purposes. It is a very common 
tree in hedgerows, though it does great damage 
in the fields by sending out long surface-roots. 
It accommodates itself to most soils and situa- 
tions not too high-lying and exposed, but its 
most vigorous growth and its best development 
are attained on a fresh, deep, light, loamy soil, 
and in soils of a somewhat limy description. On 
heavy clay land or dry sandy soil it often grows 
but indifferently, and at an early age shows signs 
that the situation is not favourable to it. Having 
a high rate of transpiration through the foliage, 
it requires to draw a considerable quantity of 
moisture from the soil, and in dry localities it 
is one of the first trees to shed its leaves in early 
autumn. Hence moist situations suit the ash, 
although not such places as permit moisture to 
collect and stagnate in the subsoil. 
The ash does not, like the elm, attain any great 
longevity. Its marketable maturity in woodlands 
