. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . h, act as under-drains. Hence the proverb, in some parts ofthe country, May your foot-fall be by the rootof an ash—may you get a firm footing. Someidea of the change of times and opinions maybe formed from the value set upon the ash, in theextract given from the laws of Howel Dda, inthe preceding notice of the yew-tree, wherein,while a branch of misletoe is reckoned at thirtyshillings, an ash, not being named, must be classedwith trees after a thorn, and therefore be ratedat fourpence ! In the usef
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . h, act as under-drains. Hence the proverb, in some parts ofthe country, May your foot-fall be by the rootof an ash—may you get a firm footing. Someidea of the change of times and opinions maybe formed from the value set upon the ash, in theextract given from the laws of Howel Dda, inthe preceding notice of the yew-tree, wherein,while a branch of misletoe is reckoned at thirtyshillings, an ash, not being named, must be classedwith trees after a thorn, and therefore be ratedat fourpence ! In the useful arts, one good ash isworth all the misletoe that ever grew, or ever willgrow. It is true that, since the Druids were suc-ceeded by a more rational priesthood, and the misle-toe was changed from sacred to profane use, it hasbeen used in the manufacture of bird-lime; but itmay very reasonably be doubted whether any onewas ever engaged in using that article whose timecould not have been better employed. Such was theveneration of some of the ancients for the ash, that. THE ASH. 109 P^ -»!*. Fraiinus eicelsior, Hesiod derives his brazen men from it; and theEdda, or sacred book of the Northmen, gives thesame origin to all the human race. From one species of the ash, which grows wildin the mountains of Calabria, and does not attainto a great size, manna is gathered. It is procuredby cutting the trunk toward the end of July, andcollecting the juice which exudes. The ash does not grow to such thickness as someof the other forest-trees. Dr. Plot mentions oneeight feet in diameter; Mr. Marsham another, atDumbarton, nearly seventeen feet in girth ; ArthurYoung mentions one in Ireland that had reached theheight of nearly eighty feet in thirty-five years ; and L 110 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. one is spoken of in the county of Galway, a districtnot remarkable for timber, as forty-two feet in cir-cumference, at four feet from the ground. In-stances of so great dimensions are not numerous,howe
Size: 1699px × 1470px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsoc, bookcentury1800, bookiddescriptionhisto00sociuoft
