particularly neat and regular-looking tree, and its smooth gray trunk
is higher than that of most trees before any branches appear. Where is
there a tree on the grounds answering this description, Malcolm?"

"Down at the end of the vegetable-garden," was the reply, "and close
beside the laundry."

[Illustration: AMERICAN WHITE ASH.]

"Yes; you are really learning to distinguish trees very well. There are
several species--the white, red, black and mountain ash. The white ash
is a graceful tree, rising in the forest to the height of seventy or
eighty feet, with a straight trunk and a diameter of three feet or more
at the base. On an open plain it throws out its branches, with a gentle
double curvature, to a distance on every side, and forms a broad, round
head of great beauty. The flowers of the ash are greenish white in color
and appear with the leaves in loose clusters. 'The trunk of our largest
American ash is covered with a whitish bark which in very young trees is
nearly smooth; on older trees it is broken by deep furrows into
irregular plates, and on very old stems it becomes smooth again, from
the rough plates scaling off. The branches are grayish green dotted with
gray or white.' Now who can tell _me_ something about this tree?"

"I know that furniture is made of the wood," said Clara, "because that
pretty set in the large spare-room is ash. And it is very
light-colored."

"The wood is used for a great many things," replied Miss Harson, "and
the ash has been called the husbandman's tree because the timber is so
much in demand for farming-implements, and for articles that need to be