288 Farmers^ Miscellany. [Oct, 



flowers in April or May, and bears in early autumn a small scar- 

 let fruit, which sometimes gives the tree a beautiful appearance. 

 Another Crataegus, which has been esteemed for hedges, is the 

 Washington thorn (C concordata), the disk of whose leaves are 

 cordate, ovate, with angular lobes. It has a close, compact head. 

 It grows from fifteen to twenty feet high, and prefers the rocky 

 banks of streams. It flowers about the first of July, and forms a 

 terminal corvmb, which in the end bear a small, flattish, globose 

 fruit, of a bright purple color. It is said to have been first culti- 

 vated by Mr. ^lain, of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. 

 It may be cultivated in all parts of the Union, from New York to 

 Georgia. 



A smaller tree of this genus, growing also throughout the 

 United States, is the C. punctata. Leaves are obovate, wedge- 

 form, glabrous above, and serrated; fioiit dull-red, dotted, plea- 

 sant taste, and fall with leaves. 



Thorns, as already stated, may be cultivated in one or all of 

 the modes which have been from time to time pursued. It is ne- 

 cessary, however, if it is determined to form a hedge, to raise the 

 plants from seed, by the same practice as that which is pursued 

 in raising the apple or pear. When the plant is three years old, 

 it may be taken up, and from the roots of a single plant from ten 

 to twelve cuttings may be obtained. The cuttings which have 

 been obtained, and which ought to be four inches long, may be 

 planted in rows eighteen inches apart, with the thick end up- 

 wards, projecting from the ground one-quarter or one-half inch, 

 and about four inches from each other. They must be well fas- 

 tened in the ground, and the dirt well pressed upon them. This 

 mode of propagation operates like grafting, or budding, in secur- 

 ing the peculiar property' of the individual, either as it regards 

 fruit or spines. 



Hawthorn (C oxyacantha), sharp-thorned Crataegus, common 

 hawthorn. This is the common hedge thorn of England; it 

 grows thirty feet high, and those of fifty feet are said to occur. 

 The leaves are glossy and lobed; flowers white, small, and fra- 

 grant; the fruit red, yellow, and sometimes black. It has ap- 

 peared under many varieties, among which form, color, and tint 



