ARBOR DA V MANUAL. 
125 
THE ASH. 
The White Ash is one of the most interesting among the American species 
for the qualities of its wood, and the most remarkable for the rapidity of its 
growth and for the beauty of its foliage. A cold climate seems most congenial 
to its nature. 
It is everywhere called White Ash, probably from the color of its bark, by 
which it is easily distinguished. The White Ash sometimes attains a height 
of eighty feet, with a diameter of three feet, and is one of the largest trees of 
the United States. The trunk is perfectly straight and often undivided to the 
height of more than forty feet. On large stocks the bark is deeply furrowed, 
and divided into small squares from one to three inches in diameter. 
The leaves are twelve or fourteen inches long, opposite and composed of 
three or four pair of leaflets surmounted by an odd one. 
The leaflets are three or four inches long, about two inches broad, of a delicate 
texture and an undulated surface. 
Early in the spring they are covered with a light down, which gradually dis¬ 
appears, and at the approach of summer they are perfectly smooth, of a light 
green color above, and whitish beneath. 
It puts forth white or greenish flowers in the month of May, which are suc¬ 
ceeded by seeds that are eighteen inches long, cylindrical near the base, and 
gradually flattened into a wing, the extremity of which is slightly notched. 
They are united in bunches four or five inches long, and are ripe in the begin¬ 
ning of autumn. The shoots of the two preceding years are of a bluish-gray 
color and perfectly smooth. The distance between their buds sufficiently 
proves the vigor of their growth. 
Jennie Pierson. 
THE OAK. 
The oak is a very common tree, and consists of many species, of which the 
White Oak is most common. Oaks are found over nearly the whole of the 
northern hemisphere, except the extreme north and the tropics, along the 
Andes. There are both deciduous and evergreen species, representing a won¬ 
derful difference in their leaves and general aspect, some being small shrubs, 
but all are easily recognized by their peculiar fruit consisting of an acorn and a 
cup, which never completely incloses the nut. 
The oak is long-lived, and specimens supposed to have been in existence 
before the settlement of this country, are still standing. As an ornamental 
tree, the White Oak is much esteemed. In autumn the leaves turn to a pur¬ 
plish color and remain upon the tree until a new growth next spring. It is also 
a good shade tree. The oak is one of the largest and strongest trees which 
grows in this State, and is, therefore, well adapted to be chosen as the tree of 
the Empire State. The oak is extensively used in ship-building, and is, there¬ 
fore, emblematical of a commercial State. 
Joseph Brobeck. 
