A CHAPTER ON HEDGES. 365 



If the buckthorn has any defect as a hedge plant it is this ; 

 while young it is not provided with strong and stout* roots like the 

 hawthorn. Its thorns, as we have already said, stand at the point 

 of each shoot of the old wood. Hence it is that a buckthorn hedge 

 does not appear, and is not, really well armed with thorns till it has 

 attained its full shape, and has had a couple of seasons' shearing. 

 After that, the hedge being well furnished with the ends of the 

 shoots, it presents thorns on every face, and is a thorough defence. 

 Besides this, it is a stronger and stouter plant than the thorn, and 

 offers more absolute resistance than the latter plant. Though it 

 may be kept low, yet it makes a most efficient shelter if allowed to 

 form a high iedge. One of the largest and oldest specimens in 

 New England is that at Roxbury, planted by the late Hon. John 

 Lowell, and still growing on the estate of his son. It is very strong, 

 and if we remember right, twelve or fifteen feet high.* 



IL THE MACLURA, OR OSAGE ORANGE. 

 Madura aurantiaca. 



The osage orange, or maclura, grows wild in abundance in the 

 State of Arkansas, and as far north as the Red River. 



It is one of the most striking and beautiful of American trees. 

 Its foliage is not unlike that of the orange, but more glossy, and 



* Mr. Derby, of Salem, was one of the first persons to employ the buck- 

 thorn, and to urge its value upon the public. From the Transactions of the 

 Essex Agricultural Society for 1842, we extract some of his remarks relating 

 to it : "I do not hesitate to pronounce the buckthorn the most suitable plant 

 for hedges I have ever met with. It vegetates early in the spring, and re- 

 tains its verdure late in autumn. Being a native plant, it is never injured 

 by the most intense cold, and its vitality is so great that the young plants 

 may be kept out of ground for a long time, or transported to a great dis- 

 tance without injury. It never sends up any suckers, nor is disfigured by 

 any dead wood. It can be clipped into any shape which the caprice or in- 

 genuity of the gardener may devise, and it needs no plashing or interlacing, 

 the natural growth of the plants being sufficiently interwoven. It is never 

 cankered by unskilful clipping, but will bear the knife to any degree." 



