S^O ARBORETUM AND FRUTJCETUM. PART III. 



a year in the ground before they do so, the preferable mode is to plant them 

 in a nursery for the first year; or, if this is not done, they ought to be planted 

 thick, so as to make allowance for some not pushing till the second year, and 

 some not pushing at all. 



When the hawthorn is to be raised from seed, the haws should not be 

 gathered till they are dead ripe ; which will be in October or November. As 

 many haws contain more than one seed, thej' ought not to be put in the 

 ground entire, but, if they are to be sown immediately, they must be mace- 

 rated in water till the pulp is separated from the nuts ; and the latter should 

 then be mixed with dry sand, to keep them separate, and to enable the sower 

 to scatter them equally over the surface. But, as the seeds do not come 

 up till the second year, a saving of ground is made by keeping them the first 

 year in a heap mixed with a sufficient quantity of soil, to prevent them from 

 heating, and to facilitate the decomposition of the pulp. These heaps are 

 kept in the open air, and exposed to the full influence of the weather ; care 

 being taken to turn them over frequently, at least once a month, so as to 

 equalise this influence. When the seeds are not to be prepared in a heap, 

 they should be sown in November or December, as soon as separated from 

 the pulp ; but, when they are to be separated by decomposition, in what is 

 technically called a rot-heap, they need not be sown till the February, or even 

 the March, of the second year ; by which means fifteen or sixteen months' use 

 of the soil is saved. They may be sown thinly in beds, the seeds being scat- 

 tered so as to lie about 1 in. apart every way, and covered about a quarter of 

 an inch. The nursery culture required is mere routine. At the end of the 

 first year's growth, the strongest of the plants may be thinned out from the 

 beds, and planted in nursery lines; and in the autumn of the second year, the 

 remaining plants may be taken up for the same purpose. Hawthorns ought 

 always to be two years transplanted before they are employed for hedges ; 

 younger and untransjjlanted plants, though cheaper to purchase, are always 

 the most expensive to the planter, as they require temporary protection for a 

 longer period. 



As stocks, hawthorn plants may be treated like stocks for fruit tree;? ; and 

 the diflerent sj)ecics and varieties may be budded and grafted on them in a 

 similar manner. Not only the different s|)ecies of C'ratit^gus, but those of 

 ^Ifespilus, Morbus, Pyrus, and even il/alus, C'ydonia, AmcU'incliier, and others, 

 may be grafted on the common hawthorn ; and in this way field hedges 

 might be rendered ornamental, and even productive of useful fruits. 



Slalhtics. Rccordifl old Uawtltoin Trees. One is mentioned by Marsham, which, in 1755, stood 

 by Hcthei church, near Norwich, and measured in girt, at 4 ft from the ground, !)ft. Ij in. ; 

 one arm of it extending above 7 yards. [lialh Sor. Pap., i. p. fti.) Dr. Walker notices the following 

 large hawthorn trees in Scotland : — On the inland in Loch Leven, in Fifeshire, in 1796, a tree 

 girtetl 6 ft. 4 in., at 4 ft. from the ground ; one at Castle Hunlly, in Forfarshire, 6 (L 1(1 in., at :i ft. 

 from the ground ; one at Kinkarochie, in the parish of Scone, in Perthshire, y ft in circumference 

 at 4 ft. from the ground, the diameter of the head 42 ft ; at IJlair, in Athol, a double.flowered h.iw- 

 thorn, standing in the " Wilderness," in 1770, '20 years planted, wa* I.") ft. high, with a trunk 2 It 4 in. 

 circumference at 4 ft from the ground. In Ireland, according to Hayes, the growth of the haw. 

 thorn far exceeds what takes place in England or Scotland. " There are, at Robert Stubbcr's, lvs(j., 

 at Mayne, several white thorns of 7 ft and 8 ft in circumference, with heads finely formed, and 

 great in proportion ; so that, when in flower, there can be nothing more beautiful. I mea- 

 sured one 5 ft. 4 in. round the stem at 9 ft high; the branches extending 1.) yards: another, 

 7 ft t) in. round the stem, in the smallest part; the head entire, and covering a circle of afi fl. in 

 diameter : and a third, the branches of which extended round a very fair stem, 24 ft on every side. 

 This last is one of the most beautiful thorns I ever saw ; but the largest I recollect to have ever seen 

 is at Lord Gormanstown's, in the county of Meath. It was above 10 ft in circumference, several 

 years since : it stood in the high road, and had received some injury, and was ho<i|>cd round with 

 bands of iron when I last saw it ; so that, perhaps, it may have since decayed." {I'ract. Treat, on 

 Plants, p. 52.) There is a remarkable old thorn in Dalham Park, Suffolk, mentioned in Jesse's 

 Gleanings, vol. iii. p. 272., but the dimensions are not given. 



Crataegus Ozyacinlha, and its Varieties, in the Environs of London. At Syon, and at various 

 other places, the double-blossomed and the scarlet hawthorns arc from 25 ft. to :30fl. high. At Ham 

 House there is a handsome tree of the variety with golden leaves, 13 ft. high. In the Hammer- 

 smith Nursery, CO. melanocarpa is 20 ft high, diameter of the head 25 ft. and of the trunk 1 ft 



C. Oxt/acdnt/ia, and its Varieties, South of London. In Devonshire, at Endsleigh Cottage, 20 

 years planted, and 2211. high, the diameter of the trunk 7 in., and of the head 14 ft. ; and C. (). 

 r6sea, 20 years planted, and 18 fl. high, the diameter of the trunk 6 in., and of the head 12 tt In 

 Dorsetshire, at iMelbury Park, the species, lOo years old, is 18 tt high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 

 2 in., and of the he.id i1 It, in strong loam on clay ; C. O. rosea,. OO years planted, and .>.' ft. high, the 

 diameter of the trunk I tt 2in., and of the head Al ft., in loam on gravel ; C. O. pra'Vox, the (ilas. 

 tonbury thorn, 100 yeat.5 planted, and 21 ft high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft., and of the head 



