436 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



creased rather than diminished by the rapidity 

 of its growth. On very poor soils, where it 

 grows stunted, it is brittle, and soon affected by 

 the rot; but, wliere the growth has been vigorous, 

 the compact part of the several layers bears a 

 greater proportion to the spongy, and the timber 

 is very tough, elastic, and durable. In elasticity 

 it is far superior to the oak, and it is not so liahle 

 to be broken by a cross strain; but it is much 

 more fibrous, and more easily split. The ash is, 

 by way of eminence, called the "husbandman's 

 tree," nothing being equal to it for agricultural 

 implements, and for all sorts of poles, ladders, 

 long handles, and other purposes which require 

 strength and elasticity combined with compara- 

 tive lightness. 



At all ages the growth of the ash is of value: 

 the thinnings of young plantations, and the 

 suckers that spring up from the roots of grown 

 trees, or from the stools of trees that have been 

 cut down, are excellent for hoops, hop-poles, 

 and every other purpose where clean, light, and 

 strong rods are wanted at small expense. The 

 leaves, and even the twigs, are eaten by cattle 

 with great avidity; the bark is useful in tanning; 

 and the wood yields, when burnt, a considerable 

 quantity of potass. 



. The drip of the ash is injurious to most other 

 plants, and, therefore, when it is planted in corn- 

 fields, a certain portion round it is unproductive; 

 but, in marshy situations, the roots of it, which 

 run a long way at a considerable depth, act as 

 under-drains. Hence the proverb, in some parts 

 of the country, "May your foot-fall -be by the 

 root of an ash," — may you get a firm footing. 

 Some idea of the change of times and opinions 

 may be formed from the value set upon the ash, 

 in the laws of Howel Dda, wherein, while a 

 branch of misletoe is reckoned at thirty shillings, 

 an ash, not being named, must be classed with 

 " trees after a thorn," and therefore be rated at 

 fourpence ! In the useful arts, one good ash is 

 worth all the misletoes that ever grew. Such 

 was the veneration of some of the ancients for 

 the ash, that Hesiod derives his brazen men from 

 it; and the Edda, or oacred book of the North- 

 men, gives the same origin to all the human race. 



The ash does not grow to such thickness as 

 some of the other forest trees. Dr Plot men- 

 tions one eight feet in diameter; Mr Marsham 

 another, at Dumbarton, nearly seventeen feet in 

 girth; Arthur Young mentions one in Ireland 

 that had reached the height of nearly eighty feet 

 in thirty-five years; and one is spoken of in the 

 county of Galvvay, a district not remarkable for 

 timber, as forty-two feet in circumference, at 

 four feet from the gi-ound. Instances of so great 

 dimensions are not numerous, however; and it is 

 not desirable that the ash should be left for such 

 a growth, as trees of fewer years, and inferior 

 scantling, are invariablj' better timber. 



Gilpin, in his work on Forest Scenery, calls 

 the oak the Hercules of the Forest, and the ash 

 the Venus. The chief characteristic of the one 

 is strength; of the other, elegance. The ash 

 carries its principal stem higher than the oak ; 

 its whole appearance is that of lightness, and the 

 looseness of the leaves correspond with the light- 

 ness of the spray. Its bloom is one of the most 

 beautiful appearances of vegetation. The ash, 

 however, drops its leaves very early; and, instead 

 of contributing its tint to the many-coloured 

 foliage of the autumnal woods, it presents wide 

 blanks of desolated boughs. In old age, too, it 

 loses that grandeur and beauty which the oak 

 preserves. 



There are upwards of thirty species of the ash 

 enumerated, — a considerable proportion of these 

 being natives of America. 



The Flowering Ash (f. ornisj, is a native of 

 the southern parts of Europe, is said to be that 

 which chiefly produces the substance called 

 manna; although other species, as the excelsior 

 and rotundifolia, also furnish it. This substance 

 is secreted from the inner bark, and is a species 

 of sugar. In Sicily the three species we have 

 mentioned are regularly cultivated for the pur- 

 pose of procuring manna, and with this view 

 are planted on the declivities of the hUls, with 

 an eastern aspect. After ten years they begin to 

 yield this substance, which exudes from incisions 

 made on the bark by means of a sharp crooked 

 instmment. These incisions are first made in 

 the lower part of the trunk, and repeated at the 

 distance of an inch from the former wound, 

 still extending the incisions upwards as far as the 

 branches; and confining them to one side of the 

 tree, the other side being reserved till the year 

 following, when it undergoes the same treatment. 

 On making these incisions, which are of a longi- 

 tudinal direction, about a span long, and nearly 

 two inches wide, a thick whitish juice imme- 

 diately begins to flow, which gradually hardens 

 on the bark; and in the course of eight days it 

 acquires the consistence and appearance in which 

 the manna is imported into Britain, when it is 

 collected in baskets and afterwards packed in 

 large chests. Sometimes the manna flows in 

 such abundance from the incisions, that it runs 

 upon the ground and becomes mixed with im- 

 purities, unless this is prevented by the inter- 

 position of concave leaves, or flat stones. The 

 business of collecting manna usually termmates 

 at the end of September, when the rainy season 

 sets in. 



The most useful and important American spe- 

 cies are : — 



The White Ash (f. Americana), a beautiful 

 tree, with tmnk perfectly straight and undi- 

 vided to the height of forty feet; leaflets three 

 to four inches long, oval, acuminate, and of a 

 lifiht-green colour and undulated surface; the 



