814 ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. PART III. 



north of Africa. One of them, the common hawthorn, is well known, through- 

 out the middle and north of Europe, as a hedge plant. The species all flower 

 and fruit freely ; and the wood of all of them is hard and durable, and the plants 

 oi % considerable longevity. Almost all the flowers are white, and the fruit is 

 generally red ; though in some sorts it is yellow, purple, black, or green. 

 All the species ripen fruit in the neighbourhood of London, most of them 

 abundantly ; by which, or by grafting, they are generally propagated. When 

 the species, which have naturally a dwarf habit of growth, are intended to 

 assume the character of low trees, they are grafted standard high upon 

 ('. Oxyacantha, C. eoecinea, or on some other of the strong-growing kinds; 

 in consequence of which practice, this genus furnishes a greater number of 

 handsome small trees for ornamental grounds than any other ligneous family 

 whatever. All the species will grow on any soil that is tolerably dry ; but 

 they will not grow vigorously in a soil that is not deep and free, and rich 

 rather than poor. Whether as small trees or as shrubs, they are all admi- 

 rably adapted for planting grounds of limited extent ; and especially for small 

 gardens in the neighbourhood of large towns. They are not only highly 

 beautiful when in flower (a period which extends from the beginning of 

 April to the end of July, commencing with C. purpurea, and ending with 

 C. cordata), but also when they are covered with ripe fruit, which includes a 

 period commencing with C. purpurea and C. nigra, in the beginning of July, 

 and continuing till the following spring or summer ; C. mexicana, C. virgf nica, 

 and some other species, retaining their fruit all the winter. Of all the genera 

 of hardy deciduous ligneous plants in cultivation in British gardens, there is 

 not one which, taking it altogether, can be compared with the genus Crataegus. 

 All the species may be trained either as small, handsome, exceedingly pic- 

 turesque trees ; or as beautiful and picturesque shrubs ; at the pleasure of 

 the cultivator. They have all a characteristic, neat, orderly manner of 

 growth ; neither so slow as to convey the idea of want of vigour, nor so 

 rapid and robust as to be considered coarse and rambling. Their leaves are 

 remarkably neatly cut, and finely tufted ; their flowers appear in masses so 

 abundant, in some species, as almost to cover the plant in the flowering season ; 

 and their fruit is produced in as great abundance as their flowers. The 

 colour of the flowers is generally white, and they are mostly more or less 

 fragrant ; some of them, as the common hawthorn, being particularly so : 

 their colour, though white at first, yet in some cases, as in that of the com- 

 mon double-flowered hawthorn, dies off of a very fine pink ; and there are 

 several pink flowered varieties of the common hawthorn which are strikingly 

 ornamental. The fruit varies in size, from that of C. spathulata, which is 

 not much larger than a mustard seed, to that of C. mexicana, which is about 

 as large as a golden pippin apple. The colour of the fruit, as already men- 

 tioned, is red, yellow, black, or green, and includes many varieties of shade. 

 The fruit of several species, such as C. Azardlns, C. Aronia, C. odoratissima, 

 and C. tanacetifolia, are agreeable to the palate ; and those of all the species 

 are greedily devoured by singing birds of many kinds, especially the thrush 

 family. VVherever, therefore, it is desirable to encourage singing birds, both 

 as such, and for the good they do in keeping down insects, the genus Cra- 

 taegus ought to be planted. All the species and varieties are exceedingly- 

 hardy ; and, if there were a demand for them, they might be propagated in 

 as great numbers as the common hawthorn. Most of the species would make 

 excellent hedges ; and, were it only the practice, in planting hedges along 

 the sides of the public highways, to introduce here and there, as standards, 

 thirty or forty sorts, which might be raised from seed, the ornament to the 

 country would be such as those only can form an idea of who have seen the 

 collections of Crataegus at White Knights near Reading, or at Courset near 

 Boulogne, when the trees are in flower, and when they are in fruit. Finally, 

 if a man were to be exiled to an estate without a single tree or shrub on it, 

 with permission to choose only one genus of ligneous plants to form all his 

 plantations, shrubberies, orchards, and flower-gardens, where would he find 



