Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/228

208 THE ASH TREE (Fraxiuus).

Among British timber trees this occupies a very prominent place, on account of its great beauty and highly ornamental character. It attains commonly a height of 30 to 50 feet, with a circumference of from 5 to 6 feet, and grows readily in almost any description of soil, but prefers a rich loam and moisture to bring it to the greatest perfection.

We find it frequently raised in coppices. In the pottery districts, owing to its value as crate wood, it is cut every five or six years, while in other places it is cut down only at intervals of seven or eight years. From the early falls poles for lances are obtained, besides much that is useful to the cooper, the turner, and manufacturer of small wares. The later falls yield timber of more useful dimensions, and this is exceedingly valuable to the coachmaker and the wheelwright.

The wood is greyish-white in colour, of moderate weight and hardness, very even and close in the grain, tough, elastic, and easily worked. To the carpenter, however, it is only found to be available for very minor purposes, as, owing to its great flexibility, it can never be safely used in architectural works. For hoops, and all kinds of agricultural implements, however, it is in¬ valuable, since when steamed or heated it can easily be bent into any form of curve required, without injury to the fibre.

It is peculiar to the Ash that it has no sap-wood— that is to say, there is no perceptible difference between the first-formed and the later or outer layers; there is thus an advantage in the employment of this description of wood over that of most others for any of the purposes for which it is adapted, as it can be utilised to the full diameter of the tree.