The wood is heavier than that of any other member of the ash group, except Texas ash. It weighs about the same as white oak, which is six pounds per cubic foot more than white ash weighs. In general appearance the wood resembles white ash, but it is usually considered stronger and more springy. The trunks of young trees are largely or entirely sapwood. Sometimes no heartwood is formed until an age of seventy or eighty years is reached. Many manufacturers of ash tool handles prefer this species to any other ash, because of its thick, white sapwood. It is often made into handles for hoes, rakes, shovels, pitchforks, spades, and snaths for scythes. Makers of vehicles draw liberally upon this wood within its range, as do furniture makers and the manufacturers of flooring. It is regarded as harder than white ash, and consequently better flooring material. LEATHERLEAF ASH (_Fraxinus velutina_) changes its velvety leaves to a leathery condition, hence the conflict in the meanings of its two names. _Velutina_ means velvet-like. The compound leaves are seldom six inches long, often not three, and they are made up of from three to nine leaflets. The small seeds are equipped with wings. The tree is small and would be without any commercial importance except that it grows in an arid region where any wood is welcome. It is made into ax, hammer, and pick handles, and wagon makers are often glad to get it. It is found among the mountains and canyons of western Texas, in New Mexico, Arizona, southern Nevada, and southeastern California, near the shores of Owen’s lake. The largest trees are scarcely forty feet high and eight inches in diameter. The wood is not hard or strong, and is of slow growth. The largest trunks are apt to be hollow. Sapwood is comparatively thick. BERLANDIER ASH (_Fraxinus berlandieriana_) may not be entitled to a place among native species, of the United States. Some suppose it was introduced from Mexico by early Spanish settlers in western Texas. It now grows wild there along Nueces and Blanco rivers where specimens thirty feet high and a foot in diameter are found. Southward in Mexico it is a popular street tree, and trunks reach six or eight feet in diameter. The wood is soft and is used only locally and in very small quantities. [Illustration] OREGON ASH [Illustration: OREGON ASH] OREGON ASH (_Fraxinus Oregona_) This tree is unusual in that it has only one common name, and that is a translation of its botanical name which was given it by Nuttall who visited the Pacific coast several years before the discovery of gold.