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THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



" If the oak's before the ash 

 Then you'll only get a splash ; 

 If the ash precedes the oak, 

 Then you may expect a soak." 



Or, put more concisely " Oak, smoke ; ash, squash." But in other localities 



you may hear the rhyme : — 



" If the oak is out before the ash, 

 'Twill be a summer of wet and splash ; 

 But if the ash is before the oak, 

 'Twill be a summer of fire and smoke." 



This reminds one of the proverb " When doctors disagree, disciples then are 

 free." My own experience is that, irrespective of the present or prospective 

 weather, the oak is almost invariably in advance of the ash. In Scotland, 

 the ash is called the " Tool of the Forest/ 7 because it is the last to put on its 

 leaves in spring and the first to shed them in autumn. And they do fall 

 very early, the slightest touch of frost causing them to drop bodily without 

 waiting to put on any of the gorgeous colours which embellish the foliage of 

 of most of our forest trees at that season. The leaves and young shoots are 

 readily eaten by many animals, deer in particular are said to be passionately 

 fond of them. But they are preyed on by comparatively few insects, so that 

 its foliage does not suffer so much from their ravages as do several other 

 trees, such as the oak, lime, willow, &c, yet it furnishes food for an obnox- 

 ious, yet sometimes useful, little beetle, the blister fly [Cantharh vescitoria), 

 the cantharides of the chemist, and popularly known as a "fly blister." 

 Fortunately, this little stranger is not plentiful enough in this country to be 

 troublesome, our climate being too ungenial for it to thrive, but in France 

 and Spain where it abounds, it becomes a pestilent nuisance, living or dead 

 it is an unpleasant neighbour, for their dried bodies, when carried as dust by 

 the wind, gives rise to intolerable irritation, and even serious inflammatory 

 results. A decoction of the leaves and bark had at one time a repute as a 

 febrifuge and tonic. The bark has also tanning properties, and the juice is 

 highly inflammable, hence the old rhyme : — 



" Burn ash wood green 

 'Tis fire for a Queen ; 

 Burn ashwood sear 

 'Twill make a man swear." 



The substance known and sold as Manna, is the sap of the manna ash already 

 mentioned, it was at one time a fashionable remedy and in great request, but 

 has now comparatively fallen into disuse. It is chiefly collected in Sicilly, 

 and is obtained by piercing the tree, when the sap exudes and flows into 

 receptacles in the same way as the juice of the sugar maple in America, or 



