It thrives tolerably well in most soils and situations, but the finest timber is produced in fairly sheltered sites, and where the soil is rich and open or freely interspersed with loose rock or stones. In order to produce clean, springy timber, such as is in request for the making of tool-handles, aeroplanes and agricultural implements, the ash should be planted thickly in order to induce straight stems that are for the greater part destitute of branches. For black, peaty soils, or that of a dampish, loamy character the sapling ash is peculiarly suited, in which, after being cut over, it will reproduce itself freely. At from thirty to forty years’ growth the ash is most valuable for handle wood and for agricultural implements. The timber is hard, heavy, and flexible, and though rapidly grown it is tough and elastic above that of any other tree grown in this country, hence its universal employment for machinery and other special purposes where great strength, combined with yielding powers, are points of first consideration. Few timbers become useful at such an early age as does the ash. At from four to six years’ growth it is fit for walking sticks, for spade handles at ten years, while after that age the uses to which it is applied are very numerous and diverse. For the cartwright, the agricultural implement maker, carpenter, cooper and turner, it is of special value. No timber has been found to equal it for the making of oars, pulleys, blocks, ladders, hoops, and crates. Owing to its sawing without splintering it is used for milkpails, kitchen tables, staircases, and similar purposes, while when of large size it is greatly in demand for furniture making. For smoking herrings ash wood has a certain local demand. Potash is procured from the ashes of the branches, and the bark has a special value in the tanning of nets. The =Beech=.—For profitable planting the beech is one of our most valuable trees, while it has the extra recommendations that it grows rapidly, succeeds well in the shade, and reproduces itself freely. The finest beech timber is produced on chalky or deep sandy soils, the former being preferable as may be instanced by the comparatively high price obtained for that grown on the Chiltern Hills and chalky formations of parts of Kent and Herts. The growth of the beech is rapid and it attains its prime at from sixty to seventy years, after which age the timber often becomes black at the heart and accompanied by rottenness and shakes which render it almost useless for constructive purposes. It is better suited for indoor than outdoor use and is extensively used in the making of Windsor chairs, for millwright and engineering purposes, for the handles of carpenters’ tools, for bobbins and, when clean and of large size, for the calendar machines of cloth manufactures. [Illustration: STANDARD BEECH TREE]