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
both strong and light. It does not last so long as the oak, but it is
more elastic and can better resist sudden shocks and jerks; it is
therefore particularly desirable for the spokes of wheels and ladders
and the beams of floors. Staircases were made of it in olden times, and
they may still be found in some English halls and abbeys. The forest ash
makes better oars than any other wood, and the tree has so many good
qualities that an old English poet spoke of it as

"'The ash for nothing ill.'

"But Malcolm looks as if he had something to say, and I shall be very
happy to hear it."

"It is only about the red berries that they bear in autumn, Miss Harson;
it looks queer to see berries growing on a tree."

"The mountain ash is the only one that has berries," replied his
governess, "and the bloom is in clusters of white flowers. The berries
are sometimes dark red and often of a bright scarlet, and they remain on
the tree during the winter, to the great delight of the birds. We should
find them very sour, although pr