ASH TREES. 55 
develop into dark green fringes, though these are not 
airy and light, like the maple and elm fringes. 
The best way for you to find out just how ash blos- 
soms look is — but you know perfectly well what is 
the very best way to find out, and I hope you will 
take care to do it. 
Ash seeds are winged like those of the maples and 
are called samaras, but they do not grow two together. 
Ash trees often bear great numbers of samaras, more 
than any other tree. Where ash trees grow near houses, 
the samaras often fall on the roofs and fill up the 
gutters, so that they have to be cleaned out, sometimes 
more than once in a season. 
The wood of the ash is so 
very tough and elastic that 
from all time it has been used 
to make bows and spear shafts. 
Of course it is also valuable ? 
for less warlike uses. 
When you read the " One Hoss Shay," you will find 
one use to which ash wood is sometimes put. 
The ash tree used to be held sacred by the ancient 
Norsemen, and some day you will read beautiful stories 
about the wonderful ash Ygdrasil. 
The small tree we call u mountain ash" is not an 
ash at all, and it has, as you know, red berries instead 
of samaras. 
