92 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



tree for hedge rows and the borders of arable 

 or pasture land, as its spreading roots exhaust 

 the soil very much, and the drip of the tree 

 is unfavourable to all other vegetation. In 

 good dairy countries the ash is seldom suf- 

 fered in the pastures, as it is thought to make 

 the butter rank if the cows eat of its leaves, 

 and which is said always to be the case with 

 the butter which is made about Guildford 

 and Godalming, and in some other parts of 

 Surrey, where the ash trees abound in the 

 fields. The correctness of this fact is doubt- 

 ful, as there is no taste in the ash leaves to 

 countenance the assertion ; and we have fre- 

 quently remarked, that a good housewife has 

 made excellent butter, when her gayer neigh- 

 bour, on the opposite side of the hedge, 

 could not eat her own churning. 



We have already remarked, that the ash 

 tree in early days, served both the soldier and 

 the scholar. It was also a principal material 

 for forming the peaceable implements of hus- 

 bandry, as it continues to be with us to this 

 day, in the shape of ploughs, harrows, &c. 

 The gardener recognizes it in his spade tree 

 and other tool handles ; the hop-planter 

 knows its value for poles, the thatcher for 

 spars, the builder for ladders, the cooper for 

 hoops, the turner for his lathe, the shipwright 



