56 FAMILIAR TREES 



often than the joyous glories of spring and summer ; 

 but when the summer beauty of the Thorn, " with its 

 locks o' siller grey," has given place to the green fruit 

 ripening to a pure, though opaque, crimson, the leaves 

 put on what is, indeed, as Sackville described it, a 

 " motley lyverye." Some become a clearer green, 

 losing the yellow and brown shades that have dulled 

 in July their April verdancy ; others blush pink on 

 one half of the leaf, or at their edges, whilst others 

 outvie the crimson of the fruit or the reddish purple 

 of a rain-stained hunting coat. Some become yellow 

 as the Maple, others orange or russet, until the later 

 mists of autumn reduce all this varied splendour 

 to the uniform dull brown of decay, which on the 

 ground soon becomes a mere black leaf-mould 



" And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, 

 And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot." 



The wood of the Hawthorn, to the density of 

 which it owes the name Cratwgus (from the Greek 

 kratos, strength), can seldom be obtained of a large 

 enough size for much practical use, and is liable to 

 warp ; but its toughness recommends its use for 

 walking-sticks, for the cogs of wooden mill-wheels, 

 and as a substitute for boxwood in engraving. The 

 bark has been used in tanning, and the leaves as a 

 substitute for tea ; but, except as making a dense, 

 quick-growing, and ornamental hedge, the Hawthorn 

 is certainly rather beautiful than merely useful. 



