266 THE NURSERY. [March. 
when driven down by force, the bark is frequently stripped, which 
in a great measure prevents their rooting freely, and pushing as 
vigorously as if carefully planted. 
Various kinds of willow are found extremely useful to plant 
along the sides of watery ditches, brooks, rivulets or any marshy and 
moist situations^ and may be propagated by planting small cuttings, 
or large truncheons, as directed for the elder. Either of these you 
may treat the following, or any succeeding spring, as the West- 
phalians do the horn-beam, noticed in page 263. 
The alder is sometimes made use of as a fence in moist, swampy 
places^ it is propagated abundantly by suckers, layers, or seed. 
The seed, if sown in March, covered very lightly, and when up 
kept free from weeds, will grow prosperously. 
Black Thorn Hedges. 
The black thorn or sloe is a tolerable good shrub for a fence, but is 
subject to spread too much by suckers, by which it can be propa- 
gated; but the best plants are always produced from the stones of 
the fruit collected when ripe, and then sown, or preserved in sand 
or earth till early in March, when you are to sow and cover them 
near an inch deep. They will vegetate the first season. 
Plum-leaved Viburnum Hedges. 
The Viburnum prunifolium, or black haw, is an indigenous 
plant and well adapted for hedges. It may be propagated in abun- 
dance by collecting the berries in autumn, and managing them in 
every respect as directed for haws. 
Note. — When you have but small quantities of such seeds as 
require a year's preparation previous to sowing, you may mix them 
with light sandy earth, which mixture put into garden pots, first 
placing a hollow shell, or something similar, with the concave side 
under, over the hole in the bottom of each, the better to sufler any 
extra moisture to pass oft; then place the pots in some dry border 
up to their rims in the earth, but not deeper, observing to cast out 
the whole contents, rubbing and mixing it well together three or 
four times in the course of the following summer, and to sow the 
seed, as before directed, early in the second spring; or you may 
use shallow boxes not deeper than six or eight inches, having their 
bottoms perforated with several holes, and covered with shells, &c., 
but by no means sink them in the earth deeper than their edges, as 
you have nothing to fear from the frost; but if covered in summer 
with moss, or any thing that will keep the earth moderately moist 
the better; or, during that season, you may plant the pots or boxes 
in some shady border. 
Osage Apple, [Madura ^Aurantiaca.) 
The first of these plants introduced into this country was 
brought by Messrs. Lewis and Clark from the Rocky Mountains, 
