THE ASH. 



Fraxinqs excelsior. 



ISatural Order — Oleace^» 

 Class — DiANDRiA. Order — Monogynia. 



The Ash is, in utility, inferior only to the Oak, 

 and like that tree an undoubted child of British 

 soil. Not remarkable for robustness, grandeur, or 

 longevity, it rests its claims on qualities scarcely 

 less striking. In height, gracefulness of form, 

 and elegance of foliage, it has no superiors, 

 scarcely any competitor. Its favourite haunts, 

 too, give it an additional charm. 



Far away, in some secluded valley, through 

 which a mountain stream, prolific in miniature 

 waterfalls, hurries or lingers, 



"—at its own sweet will," 



now penned up between party-coloured rocks, and 

 now undermining the deep alluvial soil, which, 

 in furtherance of the end for which it bubbled 

 forth from the earth, it brought with it, ages ago, 

 from the hills — among straggling mosses and 

 strange-looking liverw^orts, which have no name 

 save in the books and memory of the Naturalist — 

 here the Ash is in its home. You may find it at 

 times, a handsome looking tree in the neighbour- 

 hood of farms, or in parks, and contributing greatly 



K 2 



