CHAPTER XLIX. 
THE BUCKTHORN. 
Its Growth and General Appearance.—Its Floral and Fruit Productive- 
ness.— Medicinal and other Uses of its Berries.— Its Ornamental 
Value.—Its Suitability as a Hedge-plant.—How Propagated, and 
Manner of Culture and Training.—Its other Characteristics. 
Tuis tree is of low growth, rarely exceeding fifteen 
feet in height, having numerous and irregular branches 
covered with thorns. Its leaves are of a bright-green 
color, about an inch in length and smooth of surface. 
Its flowers, which appear in May and June, form in clus- 
ters, and are of a yellowish-green color. Its fruit ripens 
and is gathered in autumn in the northern part of the 
United States, and is of a globular form and bluish- 
black color. The juice of its berries is used as a dye or 
stain, and also as a vegetable paint. Its berries are 
strongly purgative, but are not much used in medicine 
owing to the severity of their action. 
The buckthorn is cultivated both for use and orna- 
ment in the New England States and other places, and is 
considered very suitable for hedging, in consequence of 
its robust and rigid habit of growth. It may be prop- 
agated from seed, cuttings, or layers, and will thrive 
best in a rich, moist soil. For hedging, sow seed to the 
depth of half an inch, in a shady situation, so as to 
prevent the sun acting severely on the young plants 
as they come above ground; transplant at nine inches 
apart in.single rows, and prune back in the following 
spring to within six or eight inches of their bed’s sur- 
face; this will cause the hedge to be thick at the bot- 
