140 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



it is very numerous. The Heights of Abraham, and the 

 sloping sides of the cliff are, in many places, so thickly 

 clothed with thorn-bushes as to form almost impenetrable 

 thickets. 



C. Could not this plant be introduced as a substitute 

 for the hawthorn, in the formation of live fences or hedges ? 



F. There is no doubt but it might. I have begun an 

 experiment of this nature, but too recently to be able to 

 speak with certainty of its ultimate success. I collected 

 about a quart of the haws, from under the neighbouring 

 bushes last autumn, and buried them in the garden a few 

 inches below the surface; they will not, however, sprout 

 until next spring. I also took the pains to collect about a 

 dozen suckers and young plants, which I planted in a line 

 last spring : many of them lived through the summer, and 

 are now budding. There are many other plants which 

 might be put to this purpose. The beech readily grows from 

 seed, is very thick in branches, and may be easily dwarfed 

 by cropping : it has the advantage of keeping its dead leaves 

 through the winter, affording considerable shelter. It is 

 said that after cider is made, if the pomace, that is, what re- 

 mains of the pulp after the juice is expressed, containing the 

 seeds, be strewn in a line and slightly covered with earth, 

 a thick hedge of apple will spring up and prove very effective : 

 all these, with the elm, are worth trying. 



C. The plum and apple trees in the orchard are like- 

 wise bursting their leaf-buds. 



F. So are the Birch (Betula Papyracea 1) and Elm 

 ( Ulmus Americana). Both these trees grow to a majestic 

 size, and are among the finest of our forest trees : the former 

 is particularly abundant in wet and marshy lands, and is the 

 companion of the resinous evergreens. It is considered a 

 sign of poor land where it is plentiful. The outer bark 

 of the birch is composed of many very thin layers, which 



