AND RUR^L ECONOMIST. 217 



' Suffice it then to say, that the Virginia thorn, intro- 

 duced here by Mr. Quincy, with whom it appeared to suc- 

 ceed, is in most cases utterly useless as a fence. This is 

 chiefly owing to the ravages of a worm at its root ; whether 

 it be the same which attacks the apple and the quince, is a 

 point not settled. The same objection is applicable to the 

 English hawthorn. And to this fatal one is superadded an- 

 other, the appearance of a fungus of a yellow color on the 

 leaves, which utterly disfigures them and strips them of their 

 foliage in September. The s;leditschia triacanthos is not 

 suited for hedges with us. If left to grow they soon grow out 

 of all reach, if checked they are winter-killed. We are in- 

 debted wholly and entirely to the experiments of Eze- 

 kiel Hersy Derby, Esq. for the possession of a plant, the 

 buckthorn, {rhamnus catharticus,) which, from ten years' 

 trial, seems to afford every desirable quality for a healthy, 

 beautiful, and effectual hedge. W«. refer the public to Mr. 

 Derby's account in the New England Farmer, for particulars. 



' I can only say, and I feel it a duty to say, that I have 

 tried this plant for six years. It is hardy and rapid in its 

 growth, of im^jenctrable thickness, and so far as that extent 

 of experiment enables me to judge, not subject to any dis- 

 ease, or the visitation of any insect whatever. As it is very 

 provoking as well as expensive to cultivators to be led 

 astray, and to find after five or ten years that they have 

 been deceived, they would do well to examine the growing 

 hedges of the buckthorn, or rhamnus cafharticus, at Mr. 

 Derby's, Mr. Brooks', Dr. Jackson's, or at mv place. 



'JOHN LOWELL.' 



The following is extracted from a notice of Mr. Derby of 

 the cultivation and uses of the buckthorn, referred to above 

 by Mr. Lowell. ' You will perceive that Miller represents 

 it as a shrub growing about twelve or fourteen feet high. 

 The tree from which my plants were raised formerly stood 

 in the garden of the venerable Dr. Holyoke of this place, 

 who used the berries for medicinal purposes, and was as large 

 as any of our common apple-trees. He assures me he was 

 induced at last to cut it down, as it shaded so much of his 

 garden. I was so pleased with the healthy and clean ap- 

 pearance of the tree, and the next spring observing several 

 young plants in the adjoining garden belonging to my bro- 

 ther, raised, from seed dropped in the autumn, that I was in- 

 duced to transplant them to a nursery, where they grew with 

 great rapidity. 

 19 



