1S45.] Fencing. 2S9 



have become as various as among all domesticated trees. It is 

 raised from seed, which do not appear until the second year. It 

 requires a dry rich soil, and though it will orrow upon one which 

 is moist, yet it is stunted and is covered with lichens. The seed 

 requires to be dead ripe. These are called haws. The plant 

 may be raised from the roots of old trees, when they require to 

 be removed. In commencingr a thorn hedge it is a common prac- 

 tice to make a ditch and plant seed upon its border. Burton, an 

 ancient author, in his Five Hundred Points,of Good Husbandry, 

 is sufficiently explicit in his directions for making a hedge. 



" Go plow or delve up. advised with skill, 

 The breadth of a ridge, and in length as voa will, 

 When spee !y quickset for a fence you will draw, 

 So sow in the seed of the bramble and haw." 



Privet (^Ligustrum vulgure), common privet. This is a shrub 

 of f.om six to ten feet high. It is indigenous to Britain and Ire- 

 land. It grows also in this countr}". Its leaf is glabrous, eliptic- 

 lanceolate; flowers in white racemes, sweet scented; fruit a berry, 

 pu/ple; flowers in June and July. There are several varieties, 

 the white, yellow and green privet. Wood white, hard, and of- 

 ten fit for turning. It is a line plant for hedging, easily culti- 

 vated, but does best in a rich, moist loam. It is hardy, and re- 

 sists injuries which would happen to many other plants if grow- 

 incr under a dripping surface, as under the dropping of shady 

 trees and buildings, walls, &.c. It is a fine plant for concealing 

 naked walls, and other places which we may wish to conceal in 

 frequented grounds. Single trees may be formed by proper trim- 

 ming, by which they acquire a handsome head. 



Buckthorn (Rhamus cafharticus), is a large shrub, or per- 

 haps a small, low tree, attaining a height under cuhivation, of 

 fifteen feet. Its specific name, catharticus, expresses its medi- 

 cinal properties. It has an ovate leaf, lightly toothed. Its fruit 

 is a bluish-black globular berry, with four seeds, succeeding a 

 yellowish-green flower, which appears in May and June. The 

 seeds are ripe in October, and remain on the tree after the leaves 

 have faUen. It is an exotic, but has become naturalized in Mas- 



