130 WOODS OF COMMERCE 



have a greater variety of uses, so that the poet Spenser terms it 

 " The ash, for nothing ill" Greeks, Romans, and Teutons ahke 

 used its tough saphngs for lances, the Romans preferring the wood 

 obtained from Gaul, and the Teutons also employing it for bows, 

 arrows, shields, and boat-building. Roman agricultural writers 

 recommended it for implements, and from its varied uses in this 

 respect it has been called " the husbandman's tree." It is fre- 

 quently coppiced, this young, or '' Maiden Ash," and the " stooled " 

 shoots, or second growth from the original roots, which are very 

 tough, being fit for walking-sticks or whip-handles when four or 

 five years' growth, for lance-poles or hop-poles a year or two later, 

 for spade-handles at nine years, and when 3 inches in diameter as 

 valuable as the timber of the largest tree. These growths are fre- 

 quently termed " Ground Ash." In the Potteries it is largely 

 used for crate-making, for which purpose it is cut every five or six 

 years, though for other purposes only every seven or eight. Since, 

 when steamed or heated, it can be easily bent, without injury, into 

 any curve, it is invaluable for hoops. Larger wood is largely used 

 by the wheelwright, for both spokes and felloes, and by the carriage- 

 builder, and for oars. As it does not splinter, it is also useful for 

 chopping-blocks, shop-boards, handles, such as those of croquet- 

 mallets, and bilMard-cues. For furniture it is chiefly used where 

 softer, as in Central Russia. Its flexibihty unfits it for use in archi- 

 tectural work. When seasoned, the sapwood is as valuable as the 

 heart. The roots and knotty parts of the stem were formerly 

 valued by cabinet-makers. There being no bitter principle in the 

 heart-wood, Ash is very liable to the attacks of the larvae of the 

 furniture-beetle, though painting renders it more durable. 



Ash is valuable as fuel, and its residue is rich in potash. 



The tree is a native of Europe and Northern Africa. 



Ash (Mceocdrpus obovdtus Don : Order Tilidcece), North-Eastern 

 AustraMa. " Ghereen " of natives in New South Wales, " Woolal " 

 in Queensland. Height 80—90 ft., diam. 2— 2J ft. White, hard, 

 tough, easily worked. Used for oars. 



Ash (FUndersia). See Flindosa. 



Ash, American, Quehee, or White {Frdxinus americdna L.=F. 

 acuminata Lam., F. canadensis Mich. : Order Ohdcece), S.G. 654. 

 W 30—40, Coefficient of elasticity 101,668, R 861 kilos, Resistance 

 to longitudinal pressure 463, Resistance to indentation 171. Height 

 70 — 100 ft. ; diam. 1 — 3 ft. Imported in partly squared logs, 

 18-^35 ft. long, and 10—18 in. square, in planks and partly manu- 

 factured, as oars, etc. Wood generally much whiter, and with 

 narrower rings than Common Ash {F, excelsior) ; the sapwood, when 

 well seasoned, nearly white ; the heart, light reddish, contrasting with 

 the sapwood more than in Common Ash, but less than in other 



