100 THE HAWTHORN. 



of the British tree, but many foreign species, are eminently 

 ornamental to the lawn and shrubbery. 



In husbandry, the principal use of the Quickthorn is 

 for making hedges, for which purpose very many thousands 

 are annually raised in Britain, an employment which forms 

 an important branch of the business of nurserymen. This 

 raising of Thorns for profit is a comparatively modern 

 occupation, Evelyn being the first to tell us of a gentle- 

 man who had "considerably improved his revenue by 

 sowing Haws only, and raising nurseries of Quicksets, 

 which he sells by the hundred far and near." In the first 

 year of their growth, the seedlings attain the height of 

 from six to twelve inches, and during the two or three 

 following years increase at the annual rate of from one foot 

 to three feet ; afterwards they grow more slowly till they 

 have attained the height of from twelve to fifteen feet, 

 when the shoots are produced principally in a lateral 

 direction. This peculiarity, added to the rigidity of its 

 thorns, makes it so valuable for the purpose above men- 

 tioned, the denseness of its side-branches being greatly 

 promoted by frequent prunings of the upward shoots. In 

 order to insure a uniformly dense hedge, the best plan is 

 to plant three- or four-years-old trees in two rows, about a 

 foot or a foot and a half apart, and in the following season 

 to cut them down within an inch or two of the ground. 

 If kept clear of weeds, they will make numerous strong 

 shoots during the succeeding year, and soon form an 

 impenetrable barrier. Hedges of this tree will stand the 

 sea-breeze better than most others ; but still are far from 

 being uninjured by their rude visitor, for 



" Where from sea-blasts the Hawthorns lean, 

 And hoary dews are slow to melt," 



the side most exposed to the weather may frequently be 

 observed rounded off as neatly as if by the gardener's 

 shears. This effect is produced by the particles of salt 

 with which the sea-breeze is charged being arrested by the 



