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school. In 1794, it had only a few branches remaining, which were, however, still vigorous. At Curraghmore, the seat of the Marquess of Waterford in the county of that name, there were many enormous ash trees, one of which'was 22½ feet in girth at a height of 13 feet 9 inches, the girth of the butt being 33 feet 9 inches. In 1792 Hayes measured the famous ash tree at Leix in Queen’s County, which was 40½ feet round at 1 foot, and 25 feet at 6 feet up, where the girth was least. Marsham in a letter to Gilbert White, dated 12th February 1792, says that a print of this tree was then being engraved in London, but we have never been able to see a copy of this, if it was ever published.

An ash at Castledurrow, which Hayes says was the finest he ever saw, in October 1793 measured 18 feet in girth and nearly as large at 14 feet high, the branches extending 45 feet from the stem in every direction. Another at Kennity Church, King’s County, was 21 feet 10 inches in girth with a bole of 17 feet. The funeral parties used to stop and say prayers under this tree, after which they threw a stone at its foot.

None of these relics of antiquity now remain; and most of the fine ashes have been cut down. Probably the tallest now left in Ireland is one at Woodstock in Co. Kilkenny, in an alluvial flat beside the river Nore and close to the village of Inistioge (Plate 242). Henry, in 1904, made it 127 feet in height by 16 feet 9 inches in girth; but the forester’s records give it as 136½ feet high in 1901. This tree was 11 feet in girth in 1825, 11 feet 8 inches in 1834, 13 feet 2 inches in 1846, and 16 feet 9 inches in 1901, according to the same records. Another tree beside it, which was 9 feet 5 inches in girth in 1825, was 11 feet 9 inches in 1901; and a third tree, 10 feet 5 inches in 1825, had attained 15 feet 3 inches in 1901.

At Mitchellstown, in Co. Cork, there was in 1903 a remarkably fine ash, with a tall clean stem, which was 111 feet high by 9 feet in girth. Another tree, 91 feet high, was 27 feet in girth at 2 feet above the ground, but only 15 feet 2 inches at 6 feet up. At Kilmacurragh in Co. Wicklow there is a good ash, the height of which exceeds 100 feet, but is impossible to measure on account of the situation of the tree ; the girth in 1903 was 13 feet at 5 feet above the ground. There are fine trees of great girth (17 to 18 feet), but not remarkable for height, at Doneraile Court, Co. Cork. Henry measured in 1904, on Lord Oranmore’s property at Castle Macgarrett, Co. Mayo, a tree 119 feet by 14 feet 2 inches, containing 216 cubic feet of timber. At Castlewellan, Co. Down, there are some very fine ash in the park, one of which near the garden gate is figured on Plate 243. It measured in 1908 about 70 feet high, and 18 feet in girth.

The finest ash that I have seen on the continent is in the Royal park of Jegers- borg near Copenhagen, and measured in 1908, 125 feet by 11 feet 8 inches.

The commonest disease in the ash in my own district is a canker which affects trees during most of their life without killing them, though the timber is worthless except for firewood. This disease is described and figured by the late Mr. Wilson