31S 



A CHAPTEIl ON HEDGES. 



Buckthorn, and tiie Osai.k ()r.\N(7i: ; the 

 lormer for the northern, and tlie latter for 

 the southern jiortions of our country. These 

 plants are botli natives. As they may not 

 he familiar to manyof our readers, we .shall, 

 before entering upon the plantingof hedges, 

 briefly describe them, and give correct 

 sketches of their leaves and growth, so iliat 

 they maybe identified by any person. 



THE BEST HEDGE PLANTS. 



I. THE BUCKTHORN. 

 Rhamnus eathariicus. — L. 



The Buckthorn is a deciduous shrub grow- 

 ing from 10 to 15 feet high, bushy, or with 

 numerous branches. The bark is gray- 

 ish brown ; the leaves are about an inch or 

 an inch and a half long, dark green, smooth, 

 ovate, and notched or serrated on the edges, 

 and are placed nearly opposite each other 

 on the branches. There are no indepen- 

 dent thorns' properly speaking, but the end 

 of each years' shoot terminates in a sharp 

 point or thorn. (See fig. SO.) The blossoms 

 are small and yellowish green. They are 

 succeeded by numerous round black berries, 

 which ripen in autumn, and hang till frost, 

 and give the plant something of an orna- 

 mental appearance. The roots are unusual- 

 ly black in color, and are very numerous. 



The Buckthorn is a native of the north 

 of Europe, Asia and North America. It is 

 not a common shrub in the woods in this 

 country, but we find it very frequently in 

 this neighborhood, and in various parts of 

 Dutchess county, N. Y., as well as on the 

 borders of woods in, Massachusetts.* 



The bark and the berries of the Buck- 

 thorn are powerful cathartics. The snp of 



* Some botanists consider it a foreig:n plant, introduced 

 and naturalized in this country. But we have found it in 

 solitary and almost inaccessible parts of the Hudson High- 

 lands, which forbids such a belief*^" °ur pari 



Fig. 80. ITie Bvchthorn. 



the berries, mixed with alum, makes the 

 colour known to painters as sap-green, and 

 the bark yields a fine yellow dye. 



As a hedge plant, the Buckthorn possesses 

 three or four points of great merit. In the 

 first place, its bark and leaf are offensive 

 to insects, and the borer, the aphis, and 

 others, which are so destructive to all 

 Hawthorns in many parts of our country, 

 will not touch it. 



In the second place, it is remarkable for 

 its hardiness, its robustness, and its power 



