814 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART Il. 
north of Africa. One of them, the common hawthorn, is well known, througli- 
out the middle and north of Europe, as a hedge plant. The species all flower 
and fruit freely ; and the Wood of all of them is hard and durable, and the plants 
of considerable longevity. Almost all the flowers are white, and the fruit is 
generally red; though in some sorts it is yellow, purple, black, or green. 
All the species ripen fruit in the neighbourhood of London, most of them 
abundantly ; by which, or by grafting, they are generally propagated. When 
the species, which have naturally a dwarf habit of growth, are intended to 
assume the character of low trees, they are grafted standard high upon 
C. Oxyacantha, C. coccinea, or on some other of the strong-growing kinds ; 
in consequence of which practice, this genus furnishes a greater number of 
handsome small trees for ornamental grounds than any other ligneous family 
whatever. All the species will grow on any soil that is tolerably dry; but 
they will not grow vigorously in a soil that is not deep and free, and rich 
rather than poor. Whether as small trees or as shrubs, they are all admi- 
rably adapted for planting grounds of limited extent ; and especially for small 
gardens in the neighbourhood of large towns. They are not only highly 
beautiful when in flower (a period which extends from the beginning of 
April to the end of July, commencing with C. purpurea, and ending with 
C. cordata), but also when they are covered with ripe fruit, which includes a 
period commencing with C. purpurea and C. nigra, in the beginning of July, 
and continuing till the following spring or summer; C. mexicana, C. virginica, 
and some other species, retaining their fruit all the winter. Of all the genera 
of hardy deciduous ligneous plants in cultivation in British gardens, there is 
not one which, taking it altogether, can be compared with the genus Cratze‘gus. 
All the species may be trained either as small, handsome, exceedingly pic- 
turesque trees; or as beautiful and picturesque shrubs; at the pleasure of 
the cultivator. They have all a characteristic, neat, orderly manner of 
growth; neither so slow as to convey the idea of want of vigour, nor so 
rapid and robust as to be considered coarse and rambling. Their leaves are 
remarkably neatly cut, and finely tufted; their flowers appear in masses so 
abundant, in some species, as almost to cover the plant in the flowering season ; 
and their fruit is produced in as great abundance as their flowers. The 
colour of the flowers is generally white, and they are mostly more or less 
fragrant; some of them, as the common hawthorn, being particularly so: 
their colour, though white at first, yet in some cases, as in that of the com- 
mon double-flowered hawthorn, dies off of a very fine pink; and there are 
several pink flowered varieties of the common hawthorn which are strikingly 
ornamental. The fruit varies in size, from that of C. spathulata, which is 
not much larger than a mustard seed, to that of C. mexicana, which is about 
as large as a golden pippin apple. The colour of the fruit, as already men- 
tioned, is red, yellow, black, or green, and includes many varieties of shade. 
The fruit of several species, such as C. Azardlus, C, Aronia, C. odoratissima, 
and C. tanacetifolia, are agreeable to the palate ; and those of all the species 
are greedily devoured by singing birds of many kinds, especially the thrush 
family. Wherever, therefore, it is desirable to encourage singing birds, both 
as such, and for the good they do in keeping down insects, the genus Cra- 
tze‘gus ought to be plaméed. All the species and varieties are exceedingly 
hardy ; and, if there were a demand for them, they might be propagated in 
as great numbers as the common hawthorn. Most of the species would make 
excellent hedges; and, were it only the practice, in planting hedges along 
the sides of the public highways, to introduce here and there, as standards, 
thirty or forty sorts, which might be raised from seed, the ornament to the 
country would be such as those only can form an idea of who have seen the 
collections of Crataegus at White Knights near Reading, or at Courset near 
Boulogne, when the trees are in flower, and when they are in fruit. Finally, 
if a man were to be exiled to an estate without a single tree or shrub on it, 
with permission to choose only one genus of ligneous plants to form all his 
plantations, shrubberies, orchards, and flower-gardens, where would he find 
