386 THE THORN. 
planted into ample space—say, eighteen inches between the 
lines, and six or eight inches plant from plant in the lines. 
Those intended for hedges should have their roots pruned 
where they are long, and their tops beyond ten or twelve 
inches high cut off ; also, in order to induce a stout and bushy 
habit, they should be replanted into greater space than for- 
merly, according to their size. 
Plants twice or thrice transplanted, stout in the stem, and 
well furnished with bushy roots, are of many times the value 
of those that have been only once transplanted, whatever their 
height may be. In forming a hedge with strong well-nursed 
plants, fewer are required for a given space; they are more 
easily kept clean, less subject to casualties, and they become a 
fence sooner by a few years than younger plants. The haw- 
thorn cultivated for hedges forms a leading article in all the 
small country nurseries throughout Britain ; a great advantage 
it possesses over many other plants is, that it never overgrows ; 
by topping and replanting it is increased in value, and can 
always be kept in a fit state for fences, for which it is gene- 
rally preferred to any other plant. 
Dr. Walker tells us that the first hawthorn hedges planted 
in Scotland were on the road along Inch Buckling Brae, in 
East-Lothian, and at Finlarig at the head of the Tay in Perth- 
shire. They were planted at both places by Cromwell’s 
soldiers.— Essays, p. 53. 
The hawthorn affects a rich loamy soil or clayey gravel, 
rather dry than otherwise. As an ornamental dwarf tree it 
has no superior among deciduous plants. Trained to a single 
stem it possesses a neat and elegant appearance in figure and 
foliage. In a wild state it becomes a large spreading bush. 
The profusion and beauty of its flowers, and the sweetness of 
their fragrance, enlist the favour of the beholder, and few 
trees hold a more prominent place in poetical or legendary 
lore. Nevertheless, Gilpin views this tree in a different 
aspect. He says, “Its shape is bad; it does not taper and 
point like the holly, but is rather a matted, round, heavy 
bush. Its fragrance indeed is great; but its bloom, which is 
