384 On Hedges. 



Mr. Neill's land is pan of a tract that begins at the 

 Spread Eagle village on the Philadelphia and Lancas- 

 ter turnpike road, and continues to the tavern, sign of 

 admiral Warren, for the distance of one and a half 

 miles, embracing about a mile on each side of the road, 

 and noted for the extreme poverty of the soil. A red- 

 dish steatite in small pieces, is so intimately mixed 

 with the soil as to constitute an essential part of it : and 

 yet though naturally extremely poor, it is capable of 

 very great improvement by lime and gypsum, as Mr. 

 Neill has evinced : the sub-soil is a light yellow loam. 



It was mentioned in the beginning of this paper that 

 the American cockspur, or Newcastle thorn would not 

 vegetate until the second season ; unless a particular 

 process be used. 



The following fact on this head is given by Mr. 

 Bordley. ** The late Gen. Cadwalader sowed haws of 

 the country without effect, until he was informed that 

 young thorns were seen to be grown through the cow 

 dung dropped near a road. From this hint he penned 

 up a number of cattle and fed them during winter, with 

 bran mixed with haws. The place was then plowed 

 up and the dung of the cattle covered with earth. In 

 the summer, the ground was there abounding in young 

 plants of the country haw, but they were soon much 

 injured by grass and weeds, for want of the ground be- 

 ing previously fallowed or cleaned."^ All we have 

 to do, therefore, is to collect the haws when ripe, tak- 

 ing care to spread them out on the floor of a loft to pre- 



* Notes on husbandry, 2d. edit. p. 1 98. 1801. 



