20 
THE NATIVE TREES OF RHODE ISLAND. 
this State. It thrives best in ground quite wet for most of the 
year, but is occasionally found upon dry land. The tree, in the 
woods, is even more slender than the white ash. It has a thick, 
corky bark, deeply cleft and broken, on limbs as well as trunk. 
This is a good point for its identification. The leaves have a 
darker hue than those of the white ash, and the leaflets of the 
compound stem are set close to the long mid-vein, which is not 
true of the white ash. The wood is similar in quality to that of 
the white ash, and is usually classed with it as “ash.” It is a 
valuable tree for swampy ground. 
PLANTING ASH TREES. 
Concerning planting ash trees, for profit, the author of this 
paper has elsewhere written : 
“ The native species of the ash bear transplanting well, especi- 
ally when taken from nursery-grown stock. They flourish best in 
moist ground, but will make good growth and handsome trees in 
any soil not excessively dry and sterile. There are probably hun- 
dreds of acres in most of the back-country towns of Xew England, 
now pi’actically worthless, which might, in a quarter of a century, 
if planted with our native ash trees, be made of a value to cover all 
costs with double common interest rates. The first thinning 
would be for hoops and stakes; the next, for fence rails and 
poles ; the third, for small timber, for which small trees are ex- 
cellent. A final forest growth of forty years would be of un- 
doubted commercial value. Why will not Xew England country 
boys try such a plantation 
In the old world, it is no experiment. Such plantations are an 
emphatic success, and the conditions for it are even better here 
than there. . Keep the seeds in sand over winter ; plant them in 
drills in the spring ; grow the seedlings in partial shade for a year 
or two ; then set where they are to stand permanently. Or, to 
save time, buy the seedlings ready to set of tree growers, which 
may be done at very small cost.” 
