432 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Some of the species native to Massachusetts often take, even 

 in a state of nature, the shape of handsome low trees. Of these, 

 the flowers and foliage have great beauty, and the scarlet haws, 

 which remain on into the winter, till, ripened by the frosts, they 

 are gathered by the birds, give them an additional charm. Into 

 these tall species all the others, very various and many of them 

 very beautiful, may be grafted. And not only thorns, but pears 

 and other fruits, may be readily made to grow upon the thorn. 



The wood of the thorn is of a yellowish white, heavy, close- 

 grained, hard, and difficult to work. It is not of sufficient size 

 for many useful purposes, and it is somewhat liable to warp. 

 But its hardness and the beautiful polish it takes, make it par- 

 ticularly fit for the handles of hammers and other small tools, 

 and for walking-sticks ; and it is often used for wedges. 



But by far the most important use of the thorn is for the for- 

 mation of hedges. The fact that so large a number of thorn 

 trees are natives of this State, and found flourishing in every 

 dry situation, in almost all kinds of soil, shows that they may 

 be used for this purpose, with as much certainty as in England 

 or on the continent of Europe. The time has not yet come, 

 and, in those parts which are full of stones, it may never come, 

 when hedges will take the place of wood and of stone for enclo- 

 sures, as entirely as they have in England. But in many situ- 

 ations, in every part of the State, they might, even now, be 

 introduced with great advantage and great beauty. About 

 country houses and gardens, where it is desirable to avoid the 

 stiff appearance of close wooden enclosures, the roughness of 

 stone, and the slovenliness of the straggling fence, a hedge 

 of thorn is a most desirable substitute. The experiment has 

 been successfully tried, in the vicinity of Boston, often enough 

 to show its practicability and its advantages. And in such 

 situations the hedge would answer the double purpose of a 

 fence and a row of fruit and ornamental trees. Pears, apples 

 and quinces might be grafted into the largest stocks, and the 

 mountain ash, and the wild sugar pear, add their rich bunches 

 of fruit in winter, and their graceful and rich flowers in early 

 spring. 



" When the hawthorn is to be raised from seed, the haws 



