The roots, &c. of one single Ash Tree are said to amount to a million in number, and to extend themselves as far all round the bole as the branches. I do not profess to be able to form a very decided opinion as to the number of the roots, rootlets, fibres, &c., but I have seen quite enough of the habits of the tree to convince me, that the roots extend themselves much farther than is here supposed; and it is well known to all farmers, that to a distance far beyond this, vegetation is almost totally destroyed; and that, near a Hedge-row (dividing two arable fields) which is filled with filthy, scabbed, stunted Ash Trees, which, from “mismanagement,” have been brought into such a condition as positively to be making no progress at all, _sow what he may_, the farmer can never _reap_ any thing: and yet these unsightly things, which are the latest of all other of our common deciduous trees, in getting their foliage, and almost the earliest out again, are suffered to linger out their _feeble_, but _blighting_ existence, until by slow decay they become so unsound, that the wind blows them down, and they are fit for nothing but the fire! or, if they do not actually reach this stage, they are only cut down because the owner has the fear of such a result before his eyes! A volume might be written with reference to this particular tree, were it necessary to take up every one of the points which present themselves, as condemning the present practice in its management, but that is not needed, for the _Ash Tree_ is so generally met with in a diseased state, that it may be considered as the subject of grosser “_mis_-management” than any other of our domestic trees. If any one still deny this, let him look round him and say, why Hedge-rows so abound every where, in puny, sickly, Ash Timber, which _cannot possibly attain to a useful size_: and when he has confessed the fact, that they really _do_ exist in that state, I will reiterate the assertion, that the cause is bad management! If _the present condition of Hedge-row Ash, generally_, does not prove “_mis_-management,” I am at a loss to know what does, for when the different kinds are planted upon a congenial soil, _if they be properly treated_, they will continue to grow, more or less rapidly, according to circumstances, and for a longer or shorter period, as the natural term of their existence may rule: but as they are now treated, _they are never healthy_, for the principle of decay is introduced at a very early stage of their existence, and in consequence, premature old age is brought on. To the absence of early training, may be attributed much of what is seen to be wrong in the present condition and quality of Hedge-row Timber, but much more to the vile practice of _mutilating the trees_, which almost every where obtains. There is, indeed, in some quarters, such perfect indifference manifested about the well-being of the trees, that _free licence_ is allowed to the tenants of the land to