THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 14. 
Tlic best time to commence the study of drawing is 
the present. Supposing it is the very worst time of the 
year, winter, yet by the light of a candle some progress 
may be made, and by the time the days advance in 
length, the young man will have acquired a considerable 
amount of practice, so that ho will be able, when the 
days are at the longest, to have at least two hours every 
week to advance his practice of the art, during the best 
of all light, that of the day. By that time he will have 
procured his full complement of drawing utensils, and 
may then attempt to draw more difficult things. He 
may then procure some cheap drawing-book, and copy 
the lessons, or examples, in it. It would also bo a great 
help to him to spend a holiday, if ever he has one, in 
improving his drawings, or starting a new one. By thus 
seizing upon every extra opportunity, and diligently 
devoting every Tuesday evening to this pursuit, he would 
quickly acquire the power of showing on paper his 
improvements in this useful art. It would then be a 
source of great pleasure to him, besides the prospect of 
rendering him a more useful man, whenever he is lit to 
undertake the management of a place as head-gardener. 
T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
i 
| - 
| WOODS AND FORESTS. 
THE ASH. 
(Continued from page 82.) 
Use of the Ash .—It is used, when grown to the size i 
■ of timber, by the eoachmuker, to form the bodies of 
j carriages; and by the carpenter, for carts, waggons, and 
: wheelbarrows; also for the handles of all sorts of tools, 
I such as pickaxes, hoes, and rakes ; in fact, anything 
requiring toughness and elasticity. I have already 
referred to its uses, when grown as copse-wood, for hop- 
poles, and to make crates. I have seen, also, very clean¬ 
looking vessels made of Ash, for carrying milk to market; 
. also neat kitchen chairs, which, when washed, almost 
; became white, and seemed so clean that any lady, even 
j in white garments, might have sat down upon them 
| without fear of soiling her dress. The small branches 
make a clear, sweet fire. Where coals are scarce, Ash 
Pollards are very valuable for fireing, and yield more 
wood for that purpose than any other kind of tree. 
The branches also make good charcoal, and the ashes 
of the burnt wood gives more potash than the Oak or 
the Willow. There is yet another use of the spray of 
the Ash, which, 1 believe, is not mentioned by any author, 
and that is, the cutting a quantity off, and throwing 
them down occasionally, for hares and rabbits to feed 
upon the bark during a severe winter, when every green 
vegetable is deeply covered with snow. Every game- 
keeper will thus provide for the animals which he is 
employed to preserve, and keep a stock of to breed the 
following season. The branches thus peeled by the 
denizens of the wood make excellent fire-wood, igniting 
the more readily for being divested of the moisture- 
preserving bark. For stakes, the Ash is objectionable, 
! as it rots so quickly in the ground. The bark may be, 
and indeed is, used for tanning, and is, or has been, 
used to dye stuffs yellow. 
The above various uses to which the Ash is put thus 
proves my first assertion, that it is, next to the Oak, our 
most valuable indigenous timber-tree. 
In America, there is a species different to our common 
Ash. It is named Fraxinus Americana, and is as equally 
valuable as our native species, indeed, it surpasses it in 
hardiness. The difference cousists in the seeds being 
smaller, the leaves narrower, and the bark whiter. It 
grows quickly, and thrives host in similar soils and 
situations, as the common species of this country. Seeds 
of it may be procured of the seedsmen that import 
American seed, generally, or plants may be purchased 
cheap enough at any of the large nurseries. 
Propagation .—The seeds of the Ash are produced in 
bunches on the previous year’s young shoots, flowering 
in May, and ripening in October. They hang on the 
trees a considerable time. I noticed some, this year, that j 
had not dropped in March. They should be gathered J 
as soon as they are ripe, and pitted the same as nursery¬ 
men do the seeds of the Hawthorn, only not so thick. 
Ten inches or a foot will be sufficient. Cover them with 
ashes or sand, and let them lay to rot oil’the covering I 
bark till March. 
Preparing the Seed Dcds .—-The ground should be in 
an open place, so as not to draw the plants up weak. 
It should be of moderate quality. If too rich, the seed¬ 
lings would grow on so late in the year that their tops 
would be destroyed by early frosts, and thus the plants 
would be useless. Dig deep the spring previously, and 
take off a crop of some smothering vegetable,—late 
Potatoes, for instance. Then, in autumn, dig it up in 
ridges; and in some dry weather, a fortnight or so before 
the sowing time, level down the ridges with one of 
Park’s live-steel-pronged forks % (one of the best tools 
ever invented). Then again, in March, choose a time 
when the ground is dry to sow the seeds. 
The best way to sow them is in drills The old broad¬ 
cast system has, happily, gone out of fashion, at least, to a 
considerable extent. The drill method has several advan¬ 
tages ; the chief are, the ground between the drills can be 
hoed during the summer, and shallow dug with a narrow 
spade in the autumn, thus keeping the ground clear of 
weeds, and open to receive the benefit of the weather. 
The young trees, also, grow stouter, and are less liable 
to mildew. Draw the drills, with a triangular-shaped 
hoe, about an inch deep. If the quantity to be sown is 
large, one man should draw the drills; another drop in 
the seeds; and a third, follow on with a rake to cover 
them in. 
Sow thin. There is nothing gained by sowing thick, 
and the space of ground to grow a great number of seed¬ 
lings is by no means large. The plants will appear 
about the middle of May, and are liable to be eaten oil' 
by slugs. A few dustings of quick lime, at intervals 
of a week, will certainly protect the young, tender plants, 
and kill their deadly enemy whenever it falls upon him. 
The trees will soon grow out of danger. Oth#r enemies are 
hares and rabbits ; they are particularly partial to young 
Ash, and, therefore, the space devoted to raising seedlings 
should either be walled round (the most effectual pro¬ 
tection), or a close wire fence, at least two feet and a half 
high, should surround the spot. 
During the summer, the hoe should be used as soon 
any weeds appear; they should never be allowed to grow 
beyond the seed-leaf. Any that may appear in tho rows I 
of seedlings, should be carefully plucked up by hand, and 
as soon as the leaves fall, they may be dug in, and tho 
care will be over till the weeds appear again in the spring. 
Transplanting .— In these seed drills the plants may 
remain two years. Then take them all up, and sort 
them, separating the huge ones from the small. Trans¬ 
plant them into a piece of good ground, using the spade 
only for that operation ; indeed, the roots will be so large ! 
and numerous, that it would scarcely be possible to 
plant them with a dibber. Plant the larger size in rows 
fifteen inches apart, and a foot apart in the row. The 
smaller size may be planted nine inches apart in the 
row ; here they may remain two years, and then tho 
larger sizo will be fit to plant, either to form timber- 
trees or copse-wood. The lesser sizo will require another 
year beloro they be ready for their final situation. 
T. Appleby. 
