70 



CRATAEGUS. 



portion of their interest to the presence of this tree ; as a 

 proof of its effect in such localities, we might instance 

 the ravines in the neighbourhood of the Pease-Bridge, 

 on the great northern road between Berwick and Edin- 

 burgh, where large and ancient Thorns are seen mixed 

 with a few detached and knarled oaks, the vacant spaces 

 enriched with the golden blossoms of the Whin. 



Being comparatively rare as a tree of timber-like size, 

 the wood of the Hawthorn is not so plentiful as to make 

 it applicable to general purposes, for many of which, in- 

 deed, its aptness to split and warp in drying, would, even 

 if abundant, in a great measure discpialify it. Indepen- 

 dently of this objection, it is of a firm, hard texture, and 

 close grain, susceptible of a fine polish, of a pale yellowish 

 white colour ; when green, it weighs, according to Loudon, 

 sixty-eight pounds, twelve ounces, per cubic foot, and loses 

 upwards of ten pounds in the process of drying, as its weight 

 is then found reduced to fifty-seven pounds three ounces. 



It makes good and durable cogs or teeth for mill-wheels 

 and other machinery, handles for hammers, mallets, and 

 other articles where a firm, tough wood is required. 



As a fuel, it ranks among the best, giving out much 

 heat, and burning as freely in a fresh, as in a dried state. 

 The Hawthorn, as a hedge plant in England, is said to 

 date from the time of the Romans, but however this may 

 be, there is no doubt, from the mention made of quickset 

 hedges, and the directions given for constructing them in 

 the oldest works we possess on husbandry, that they have 

 been, at least, in partial use for three or four hundred years. 

 At this early period they appear to have been made for 

 the protection of plantations, garden grounds, and small 

 paddocks in the immediate vicinity of dwelling-houses, 

 and on such occasions, the Thorn was frequently mixed 



