Oak and Ash

The tradition is, if the oak gets into leaf before the ash we may expect a fine and productive year; if the ash precedes the oak in foliage, we may anticipate a cold summer and unproductive autumn. In the years 1816, 1817, 1821, 1823, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1838, 1840, 1845, 1850, and 1859, the ash was in leaf a full months before the oak, and the autumns were unfavourable. In 1831, 1833, 1839, 1853, 1860, the two species of trees came into leaf about the same time, and the years were not remarkable either for plenty or the reverse; whereas in 1818, 1819, 1820, 1822, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1842, 1846, 1854, 1868, and 1869, the oak displayed its foliage several weeks before the ash, and the summers of those years were dry and warm, and the harvests abundant.