It is this pinnate pendent leaf which, loosely hanging on the flexile, more or less pendent branches, gives so much grace to the tree. We have been much pleased with some groups of ash trees in Earl Bathurst’s park (Oakley Park) at Cirencester; but, as Strutt well observes,— It is in mountain scenery that the ash appears to peculiar advantage; waving its slender branches over some precipice which just affords it soil sufficient for its footing, or springing between crevices of rock, a happy emblem of the hardy spirit which will not be subdued by fortune’s scantiness. It is likewise a lovely object by the side of some crystal stream, in which it views its elegant pendent foliage, bending, Narcissus-like, over its own charms. But charming as is the ash when in its most perfect foliage, yet as its æstivation is usually so late, and the fall of its leaves so early and rapid, it often displays all but naked limbs, even amidst the freshness of spring, as well as during the autumnal tinting of almost all other trees. It would seem that its buds cannot expand in spring frosts, whilst the first frost of autumn will frequently make the whole foliage drop in one mass beneath the influence of the succeeding sunshine. This susceptibility to spring cold is doubtless at the base of the country weather predictions which are made to depend upon the behaviour of the ash in respect to its time of displaying its leaves:— When the oak’s before the ash, You may then expect a dash. Generally held to mean, that if the leaves of the oak are seen before those of the ash, a fine dry summer may be expected; but, on the contrary,— With the ash before the oak, You may then expect a soak. The truth of all this may be that a cold wet spring, which would retard the bursting of the buds of the ash, may be expected to be followed by a fine summer; whilst, on the contrary, a genial forward spring is often succeeded by a wet summer. Selby remarks on the early fall of the leaf, which, as he says, is “after the first autumnal frost, however early that may happen; and this, in general, without undergoing any change of colour, or contributing by the ’sear and yellow leaf’ to the waning beauty of autumnal foliage.” On this account, Sir T. D. Lauder recommends that “ash trees should be sparingly planted around a gentleman’s residence, to avoid the risk of their giving to it a cold, late appearance, at a season when all nature should smile.” It should be noted that although the ash seems to be so susceptible of cold, it nevertheless ripens its seeds most perfectly in any part of Great Britain; and besides this, these seeds, or “keys,” when naturally sown, come up with the greatest certainty, so that young ash may be removed from the wood and used for planting.