140 
THE 
CANADIAN 
NATURALIST. 
it is very numerous. The Heights of Abraham^ and the 
sloping sides of the cliff are, in many places^, so thickly 
clothed with thorn-bushes as to form almost impenetrable 
thickets. 
C. — Could not this plant be introduced as a substitute 
for the hawthorn, in the formation of live fences or hedges ? 
F, — There is no doubt but it might. I have begun an 
experiment of this nature, but too recently to be able to 
speak with certainty of its ultimate success. I collected 
about a quart of the haws, from under the neighbouring 
bushes last autumn^ and buried them in the garden a few 
inches below the surface ; they will not;, however^ sprout 
until next spring. I also took the pains to collect about a 
dozen suckers and young plants^ which I planted in a line 
last spring : many of them lived through the summer, and 
are now budding. There are many other plants which 
might be put to this purpose. The beech readily grows from 
seed, is very thick in branches, and may be easily dwarfed 
by cropping ; it has the advantage of keeping its dead leaves 
through the winter, affording considerable shelter. It is 
said that after cider is made, if the pomace, that is, what re- 
mains of the pulp after the juice is expressed, containing the 
seeds, be strewn in a line and slightly covered with earth, 
a thick hedge of apple will spring up and prove very effective : 
all these, with the elm, are worth trying. 
C. — The plum and apple trees in the orchard are like- 
wise bursting their leaf-buds. 
F, — So are the Birch f Betula Papyracea ? ) and Elm 
( Ulmus Americana J. Both these trees grow to a majestic 
size, and are among the finest of our forest trees : the former 
is particularly abundant in wet and marshy lands, and is the 
companion of the resinous evergreens. It is considered a 
sign of poor land where it is plentiful. The outer bark 
of the birch is composed of many very thin layers, which 
