penter, wheel-wright, cart-wright, cooper, turner, 
and thatcher. Nothing like it for our garden 
palisade-hedges, hop-yards’ poles and spars, han- 
dles, stocks for tools, spade-trees, &c. In sum, 
the husbandman cannot be without the ash for 
his carts, ladders, and other tackling. From the 
pike, spear, and bow, to the plough, in peace and 
war, it is a wood in highest request. Lastly, the 
white and dottard rotten part composes a ground 
for our gallants’ sweet powder; and the trun- 
cheons make the third sort of the most durable 
coal, and is the sweetest of our forest fuelling, and 
the fittest for ladies’ chambers.” The ashen billet 
produces asteady, bright, lambent flame; it readily 
| burns when recently taken from the tree; it ex- 
udes much sap during the process of combustion ; 
and it appears to owe its bright flame to the 
| plentiful and progressive evolution of hydrogen. 
| The coach-maker very extensively uses ash tim- 
| ber; and the cabinet-maker often passes it upon 
* his customers as fancy-wood or green ebony. ‘The 
timber of the roots is often finely veined ; it some- 
times has knotty convolutions which beautifully 
resemble certain animals or compound figures in 
nature or in art; and it is usually susceptible of 
a fine polish. The bark of the tree is used for 
tanning calf skins, and for dyeing green, blue, 
and black ; the ashes of trunk, root, or branches, 
are comparatively rich in potash; the ‘keys’ 
were formerly gathered in their green condition, 
and pickled with salt and vinegar for sauce ; and 
the dried seed was in high repute for medicinal 
virtues, among the Greeks, the Romans, the 
Arabs, and the early English physicians. 
The weeping ash, Praxinus pendula, is a variety 
of the common ash, characterized by rapidly 
curved and deeply pendulous branches. It was 
first discovered in a field at Gamblingay in Cam- 
_ bridgeshire ; it usually attains a height of only 
about 20 feet; and, if thoroughly and constantly 
protected by fence, it is both a curious object in 
itself, and forms an agreeable circular arbour; 
but when it grows within access and reach of 
cattle, it is certain to be deformed and irretriev- 
ably damaged.—The yellow-barked ash, Fraxinus 
jaspidea, is also a variety of the common ash, 
characterized by the yellowness or variegation of 
its bark ; and usually grows to the height of about 
30 feet.—The green curled-leaved ash, Fraxinus 
atrovirens, is likewise a variety of the common 
ash; but is so exceedingly dwarfish as to be a 
mere bush, the only shrubby plant of the genus, 
usually growing to the lilliputian height of only 
4 feet—The horizontal, the erose-leaved, the 
striped-barked, horizontalis, erosa, striata, and 
some other varieties, are also varieties of the com- 
mon ash; and, in common with all the preceding 
varieties, may be propagated from buds, layers, 
or grafts ——The simple-leaved ash, Fraxinus sim- 
plicifolia, is regarded by some as a variety of the 
common ash, and by others as a variety of the 
Fraxinus heterophylla. It is distinguished by 
having leaves, not pinnated, but single; and it 
I 
257 
possesses no superior point of either utility or 
beauty, but is a mere curiosity. A tree of it up- 
wards of 50 feet in height grows in the Edinburgh 
Botanic Garden, and produces seeds; but plants 
raised from its seeds have the pinnated leaves of 
the common ash.—The warted ash, Fraxinus ver- 
rucosa, grows wild in Norfolk, is distinguished 
from other species by its round warted branches, 
has an ornamental character, and usually attains 
a height of about 60 feet.——The various-leaved 
ash, Fraxinus heterophylla, grows wild in the 
woods of England, is distinguished by the black- 
ness of its buds and by having its leaves tooth- 
serrated and both simple and compound, is better 
adapted to utility than to ornament, and usually 
attains a height of about 30 feet. 
The white ash, /raxinus Americana, is a lofty 
tree, differing in few respects from the common 
ash, and the only American species which has yet 
been proved to rival the common ash in value. 
It was introduced to Britain from North America 
in 1723, and has long been known in France and 
Germany. It chiefly abounds, in its wild state, 
to the north of the river Hudson; it prefers a de- 
cidedly cold climate, by the sides of swamps and 
rivers ; and it usually attains a height of 80 feet, .. 
with a medium trunk diameter of 3 feet. Its 
bark has a whitish colour, and, on large trees, is 
deeply furrowed, and divided into squares of from 
one inch to three inches in diameter; its trunk 
is perfectly straight, and sometimes does not 
ramify till the height of upwards of 40 feet from 
the ground; and its leaves are 12 or 14 inches in 
length, composed of three or four opposite pairs | 
of leaflets with an odd leaflet at the end, covered 
in spring with a light down, but quite smooth in 
summer, of a light green colour on the upper sur- 
face, and a whitish colour on the lower side. The 
timber of the tree has a reddish colour. The 
leaves of the white ash are said to be so highly | 
offensive to the rattlesnake that that formidable 
reptile is never found on land where it grows, 
and it is the practice of hunters and others hav- 
ing occasion to traverse the woods in the sum- 
mer-months, to stuff their shoes or boots with 
white ash leaves as a preventive of the bite of 
the rattlesnake—The blue ash, /raxinus quad- 
rangulata, grows wild in Tenessee and Ken- 
tucky, and was introduced to Great Britain in 
1822. It frequently attains a height of up- 
wards of 70 feet. Four opposite membranes, 
of a greenish colour, and three or four lines 
broad, extend throughout the length of the 
young shoots, to which the leaves are attached ; 
but after the third or fourth year, these mem- 
branes disappear, and leave only the traces: of 
their existence. This species is so extensively 
and richly useful in its native country, as to be 
well worth cultivation in the woods of Europe. 
—The red ash, Fraxinus tomentosa or pubescens, 
grows wild in Pennsylvania and some. adjoining 
districts. It is a beautiful tree, and attains the 
height of 60 feet. Its bark is‘of a deep brown 
| 
