THE LONG-SPURRED THORN. 



513 



created for all the good it has yet done, is being put 

 into circulation to be rotated through countless 

 cycles. Then, we waited till the elements chose, 

 in their erratic moods, to give an opportunity to 

 thrust in the plow ; now, opportunity is made by 

 thrusting in drain tile. 



Instead of gleaning the half developed fruits 

 from weedy fence-corners, we transplant to the 

 orchard, and dig, and dung, and graft, and com- 

 mand the plant to change its form and fruit ; it does 

 not always obey, because the laws which govern it 

 are not fully understood. Plants of use and beauty 

 are all about us, giving hints of their possibilities 

 and impatiently waiting for an intelligent com- 

 mander. For thousands of years they have kept 

 their secrets well, and laughed to scorn the ignor- 

 ance of their careless masters. Then, animals 



grew as they liked ; now, they grow as directed, but 

 always in harmony with law ; but they say in 

 unmistakable language, we obey not, nor yield, 

 unless your intelligence is superior to ours. 



Then, few opportunities were open for acquiring 

 that knowledge and training which leads to mastery ; 

 now, all doors are open to those who will. Then, 

 one man's head and another's hand were trained, 

 often producing two mostrosities. Now, the head 

 and hand are trained simultaneously ; a thousand 

 added comforts appear, innocent pleasures never 

 dreamed of spring up, and the forces of Nature are 

 chained to our chariot wheels. But the end is not 

 yet ; energy in the soil and the plant never yet 

 utilized, impatiently awaits discovery and the 

 unfolding of the laws which govern it. 



Cornell Unk'ersitv. I. P. Roberts. 



THE LONG-SPURRED TYiO^^—{Cratcegus coccinca var. macracantha). 



Fi\;. J. , Fr( 



Ci atcegns coccinca^ Linn., var. niacraca 



THE thorns are among the most varied and 

 attractive of our native shrubs. They 

 possess great merit because of their pic- 

 turesque habits, as well as from the pro- 

 fuseness of their bloom and their interesting fruits. 

 One of the most picturesque of all thorns is the 

 recently named var. macracantha of the scarlet 

 thorn, C. coccinca. The old plants attain a height of 

 ten or twelve feet, and the top assumes asomewhat 

 drooping or tortuous aspect, which is very charac- 

 teristic. The spurs are exceedingly long, reaching 

 four or five inches. The flowers are very fragrant, 

 more so than any native thorn with which I am 

 acquainted. It might be called with propriety the 

 fragrant thorn. In this regard it is wholly different 



iitispicci-. 



ntha, Dudley, Caj'uga Flora, 33 (1886). 



from the scarlet thorn, of which it has been held to 

 be a variety. The scarlet thorn possesses any- 

 thing hut an agreeable odor. A bush of the long- 

 spurred thorn in flower scents the air for a con- 

 siderable distance. 



But the dissimilarity between these two thorns in 

 matter of fragrance is only one of several very 

 marked differences, which, I think, mark the long- 

 spurred thorn as a distinct species. At all events, 

 it is extremely doubtful if the plant is closely re- 

 lated to the scarlet thorn. The wedge-based and 

 furrowed leaves at once indicate that it is nearer 

 the pear thorns ( Cratccgits toincntosd) than the 

 scarlet thorn. Professor Dudley, who described 

 and named the thorn in his flora of the Cayuga 



