100 FAMILIAR TREES 



It was, therefore, planted near cowhouses and stables ; 

 perhaps because the weird sisters were more given 

 to attack the cattle than their owners, or, perhaps — 

 as in the case of the House-leek planted on similar 

 buildings as a protection from lightning — because the 

 frugal farmer thought more of the safety of his stock 

 than of that of his family. Cattle were passed when 

 young through hoops made of its wood, and though 

 this wood was undoubtedly much in request for bows, 

 for which it was second only to the Yew, and though 

 one tradition assigns to the Rowan the honour of 

 being the material of the Cross of Calvary, it was very 

 probably some such superstition that led to its being 

 planted so frequently round Welsh churchyards. 

 So abundant is it in Wales, that at one time 

 it was even known as Fraxinus cambro-britannica, 

 the Welsh Ash. 



The Mountain Ash attains a height of from ten to 

 thirty feet, and sometimes exceeds two feet in dia- 

 meter, growing very rapidly at first. It reaches 

 eight or nine feet in the first five, and sometimes as 

 much as twenty feet in the first ten years, after which 

 it spreads out into a loosely branching head, increas- 

 ing but slowly in height. This mode of growth, rapid 

 at first, and never densely shady, renders it valuable 

 to the forester as a " nurse " for Oak plantations, more 

 especially as its perfect hardiness renders it tolerant 

 of any exposure ; and it has also recommended it 

 for our lawns and flower-gardens. It is, moreover, a 

 useful coppice wood for poles, hoops, etc., and its 

 bark is used to some extent in tanning. 



The alternately -arranged ascending branches. 



