94 



THE HAWTHORN. 



any period of its growth. Nor are these all its services ; 

 every plant that grows near it seems to acquire increased 

 vigour from its friendly shelter and vicinity. The snow- 

 drop, fearless of the tempest, displays its earliest flowers 

 amid the thick covert of the Hawthorn ; while the prim- 

 rose, the violet, and the speedwell are generally its beau- 

 tiful associates. 



Deprived of its Hawthorn . hedges, our rural scenery 

 would lose one of its most interesting features, and present 

 to the eye of the painter and the poet little more than a 

 tame and monotonous expanse of country. Not only do 

 they agreeably diversify our immediate vicinities, but when 

 blended by distance give a rich and unrivalled charm to 

 English landscape. 



The Hawthorn is also one of the earliest harbingers of 

 summer. What can surpass the beautiful and delicate 



