BLACK ASH. 
43 
plexion and fine texture ; it is tougher and more elastic than that of the 
White Ash, hut less durable when exposed to the vicissitudes of dryness 
and moisture, and for this reason it is less extensively used. Coach- 
makers do not employ it, and it is never wrought into oars, handspikes 
and pullies. In the District of Main® it is preferred to the White Ash for 
hoops, which are made of saplings from 6 to 10 feet in length, split in the 
middle. As this wood may be separated into thin, narrow strips, it is 
selected in the country for chair-bottoms and riddles. 
The Black Ash is more liable than any other species to be disfigured 
with knobs, which are sometimes of considerable size and are detached 
from the body of the tree to make bowls. The wood of these excrescences 
has the advantage of superior solidity, and, when carefully polished, exhi- 
bits singular undulations of the fibre ; divided into thin layers it might be 
employed to embellish mahogany. 
In Vermont and Hew Hampshire, which furnish great quantities of pot- 
ash, I have been informed that the ashes of this tree are singularly rich in 
alkali. 
Such are the principal uses of the Black Ash, from which a general idea 
may be formed of its properties. It deserves a place in the forests of the 
north of Europe, and by employing its wood we shall learn to estimate its 
value with greater precision. 
Observation . — Another lofty species of Ash exists in Kentucky which is 
also called Black Ash ; but I am too imperfectly acquainted with it to 
attempt a description. 
PLATE CXXII. 
A Branch with leaves of half the natural size. Fig. 1 , Seeds of the natural size. 
