The Ash. 



frequently sowed the seeds of this Ash in April, and have 

 had them stand as thick as they could stand upon the 

 ground, though the seeds had been gathered from the tree, 

 in America, in the previous month of November. I do not, 

 however, recommend this practice to any one ; for the seeds 

 always ought to be sown, and always may be sown, in 

 February or March, which gives plenty of time for the 

 bringing of them from any part of North America. 



135. That this tree grows much faster than ours, I have 

 had abundant proof, and have, indeed, many thousands of 

 proofs now in my possession; for the American White Ash 

 plants which I have at Kensington, and which were not 

 sown till last April, are now full as tall again as any of the 

 English Ash of the same age that I ever saw. This, there- 

 fore, is, above all others, the Ash which I recommend to be 

 put into plantations in England, whether for ornament, for 

 timber, or for underwood. 



136. AMERICAN BLACK ASH. Fraxinus Sambuci- 

 FOLiA. Michaux tells us that this Ash rises to the height of 

 sixty or seventy feet, but that it does not grow to the size of 

 the White Ash. It grows in the same climate, and is used 

 for pretty nearly the same purposes, but is not so much es- 

 teemed. The bark of the White Ash corresponds with its 

 name, and so does that of the Black Ash. The first is not, 

 indeed, white, but of a pale grey colour, with a reddish 

 bud j while the bark of the Black Ash has a very dingy 

 hue, and while the buds are black, like those of the buds 

 of our Ash. The leaves of the Black Ash are not much 

 above half the size of those of the White Ash ; and there 

 is this further difference between the two trees, namely, 

 that the seeds of the Black Ash, like the seeds of our Ash, 

 will not come up until the second year. I have some 



