The Ash. 



be dry^ and the sun hot, which sometimes happens in April, 

 cover the beds over in the day-time with mats, imtil rain 

 or shady weather come, or until the plants come up. 



142. An observation which relates to Ash trees in general 

 is this, that the greatest care should be taken to keep 

 cattle out of the young plantations, and out of coppices, 

 where the young shoots are yet low. A hungry cow, or 

 a hungry horse, especially the latter, would destroy an 

 acre in the course of a few days. When once cropped off, 

 they can yield you neither pole nor hoop. The coppice, 

 if cropped all over, would yield you nothing but fagot 

 wood. I therefore beg leave to press upon all those who 

 have young plantations, or recently- cut coppices, the abso- 

 lute necessity of keeping all sorts of cattle out of them, not 

 forgetting those mischievous vermin, the rabbits, one of 

 which will bark twenty, thirty, or perhaps fifty, young 

 Ash trees in a night. In many cases, valuable coppices 

 have been nearly totally destroyed, or at least a ten years* 

 growth of them has been destroyed by the teeth of the 

 rabbits and the hares, both of them fond of the bark of 

 young trees in general ; and this valuable tree, the Ash, 

 happens, unfortunately, to be one of their favourite 

 dishes. 



