THE OTHER HARDWOODS © 157 
of the Cotswold Hills the seedling growth of ash 
comes up thick and: beautifully—only, in many 
cases, to be eaten down by rabbits. Strongly 
endowed as it is with recuperative power in out- 
growing injuries, even the ash cannot outlive 
being eaten down year after year by rabbits. 
It also springs very freely from the stool, 
throwing up a fine flush of straight rods of 
vigorous growth. As coppice and underwood in 
copse it can stand a fair amount of overshadow- 
ing on good fresh soil, and even benefits by a 
light shade protecting it against frost, while 
under favourable circumstances it also throws up 
suckers as well as stool-shoots. During the 
later stages of its growth it exhibits distinct 
signs of being essentially a light-demanding tree, 
like the oak and the elm, and therefore becomes 
impatient of shade. Like them, too, it is apt to 
become dry-topped and stag-headed if suddenly 
exposed to light when a large tree. With its deep 
roots, light foliage, and tough wood, it, how- 
ever, differs entirely from the elm in being little 
liable to be thrown or broken by wind. Along 
with the oak and the larch it forms one of the 
most profitable kinds of trees that can at present 
