WHITE ASH 
near a fire and both surrounded by ashen twigs, the serpent 
will sooner run into the fire than pass over the pieces of ash; 
all of which is important if true. ‘he other, refers to the 
peculiar liability of the ash to be struck by lightning, and this 
belief is embalmed in ancient folk-lore rhymes. 
The rustic laborer at the approach of a thunder-storm is 
admonished, 
Beware the oak it draws the stroke, 
Avoid the ash it courts the flash, 
Creep under the thorn it will save you from harm. 
Indeed, the oak and ash are frequently associated in coun- 
try proverbs and rural lore. 
If the oak is out before the ash, 
"Twill be a summer of wet and splash; 
But if the ash is before the oak 
*Twill be a summer of fire and smoke. 
The wood of all the ashes is singularly light, strong and 
elastic. Prehistoric man seeking an available weapon found 
it in an ashen club. Achilles fought with an ashen spear. 
Cupid made his arrows first of the ash. The North Ameri- 
can Indian could find no better wood in the forest for his 
bow or his paddle than the ash. It is the wood most exten- 
sively used in the manufacture of agricultural implements. 
The tree has many insect enemies. All the species can be 
easily raised from seed, which sometimes does not germi- 
nate until the second year. Varieties can be multiplied by 
grafting. 
Fraxinus is of wide distribution and ancient type. A 
tree of the temperate zone it occurs in Europe, Asia and 
Africa and except in the extreme north is found in all parts 
of North America. Its fossil remains prove it to have been 
abundant in the tertiary period within the arctic circle. 
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