Fraxinus 871 



more valuable than when it is from 3 to 6 feet in girth, with a clean stem, a size 

 often attained at fifty to sixty years of age. 



In plantations ash is often mixed with other trees, and if allowed to take the 

 lead will do them more harm than oak, but a few ash should be introduced in 

 the best soil of larch or other plantations, because the seedlings, which spring up 

 abundantly, will, when the conifers are cut, renew the plantation naturally, and the 

 parent trees will throw up vigorous shoots from the stool after felling. 



In the midland counties, ash is the commonest, and by far the most profitable 

 underwood, being cut at intervals of twelve to twenty years ; when the poles are 

 much in demand for many purposes, especially for sheep hurdles. But in most 

 places during the last twenty years ash poles have fallen in value, though larger 

 timber has increased in price ; and so much damage has been done to the stools by 

 rabbits that large areas are now becoming very thin, and the crop inferior. No tree 

 except beech suffers more from rabbits than ash, and where they are allowed to 

 increase, and are not killed before winter, the bark of old trees as well as of under- 

 wood is sure to be peeled, and the natural reproduction from seed checked. I believe 

 that where the soil is stiff, young ash will pay for some cultivation when young, as 

 their shade is not dense enough to keep down grass and weeds, and if they become 

 stunted, as they often do after planting, it is better, and, indeed, necessary, to cut 

 them down to the ground two to five years later. 



Self-sown ash seem to grow more vigorously than planted ones, if not too 

 crowded, and their rate of growth is sometimes extraordinary. An ash self-sown 

 in my nursery, at three years old was 7 to 8 feet high, whilst the transplanted 

 seedlings on the same ground were only 3 feet high at the same age. I have seen 

 shoots 6 to 7 feet long the first year from strong healthy stools, and poles worth ;^i5 

 to ;^20 per acre at sixteen years old, on land which for agricultural purposes was 

 not worth 8s. an acre. The stools, however, often become worn out and hollow at 

 the base after five or six cuttings, and these should be replaced with seedling plants 

 every time the crop is cut. 



Some years ago, when ash coppice began to fall in price, I left the strongest and 

 straightest pole on every stool at the rate of about 160 per acre, with the object of 

 converting the coppice into timber trees. But though, where the soil is good and 

 the stools young, these poles are likely to make useful trees at fifty to sixty years from 

 the last cutting over, yet where the land is poor they have increased but little, and 

 have a hidebound appearance, owing, no doubt, to the want of shelter and the 

 exposure to the sun and wind. I should advise all intending planters of ash to 

 examine carefully the best local ash plantations, and inquire into the probable 

 demand for poles before adopting this course. 



The ash is always raised from seed, except in the case of varieties which are 

 grafted on stocks of the common ash. The keys are ripe in late autumn, and often 

 hang on the tree till the following summer, especially when they are not mature. 

 The best-ripened seed, I believe, usually falls first, and should be gathered before 

 winter, and put in a shallow layer mixed and covered with earth or sand, and kept 

 fairly dry until the following winter, when it should be sown. It is advised in books 



