!
M i
soiiie regard to the spines by which they are defended. The fruit is astringent.
By far the most important use o f the hawthorn is as a hedge plant. For
this purpo.se, it is planted in single or in double lines, most commonly along
the margin o f a ditch ; though, however convenient this may be with respect
to fencing the plants when young, and draining the soil, it is a great drawback
to their progress afterwards, by preventing their roots from extending
themselves, except on one side ; and, by the drainage of the ditch, it also
deprives them of their natural share o f moisture. Wherever thorn hedges
are planted, and intended to thrive, the ground ought to be trenched at
least 2 ft. in depth, manured if poor, and the plants inserted on a flat sur-
fiice, so as to receive and retain the whole of the moisture that falls from the
heavens.
The hawthorn will do no good unless planted in a soil naturally dry and
fertile, or that has been rendered so by art. The plant is never found naturally
on a wet soil ; and, if planted on such a soil, it soon becomes stunted,
and covered with lichens and moss. The situation should be airy ; but it
will grow either in exposed places, or in such as are sheltered, and even somewhat
shaded, by other trees. In cases of this kind, however, it neither forms
a handsome tree, nor a close thick hedge.
The species is almost always propagated by seeds, but sometimes by cuttings
of the roots ; which, when about half an incli in tliickness, and 1 ft. or
18 in. in length, and planted with the root end undermost, speedily make
large plants. Where old thorn plants are taken up, the roots may always be
used for forming now hedges ; but it must be acknowledged that, as they do
n ot all send up shoots equally, some remaining a year in the ground before
they do so, the preferable mode is to plant them in a nursery for the first
year ; or, if this is not done, they ought to be planted tliick, so as to make
allowance for some not pushing till the second year, and some not pushin«
at all. °
When the hawthorn is to be raised from seed, the haws should not be
gathered till they are dead ripe ; which will be in October or November. As
many haws contain more than one seed, they ought not to be put in the
ground entire, but, if they are to be sown immediately, they must be macerated
in water till the pulp is separated from the nuts ; and the latter shouhl
then be mixed with dry sand, to keep them separate, and to enable the sower
to scatter them equally over the surface. But, as the seeds do not come up
till the second year, a saving of ground is made by keeping them the first
year in a heap, technically called a rot-heap, mixed with a sufficient quantity
of soil, to prevent them from heating, and to facilitate the decomposition of
th e pulp. These Iicaps are kept in the open air, and exposed to the full
influence of the weather; care being taken to turn them over frequently, at
least once a month, so as to equalise this influence. When the seeds are
not to be prepared in a heap, they shouid be sown in November or December,
as soon as separated from the pulp ; but, when they are to be separated
by decomposition in a heap, thej- neeil not be sown till the February, or even
the March, of the second year ; hy which means fifteen or sixteen months’ use
of the soil is saved. They may be sown thinly in beds, the seeds being scattered
so as to lie about 1 in. apart every way, and covered about a quarter of
an inch. The nursery culture required is mere routine. Hawthorns ou«ht
always to be two years transplanted before they are employed for hedges ;
younger and untransplanted plants, though cheaper to purchase, are alwaj-s
the most expensive to the planter, as they require temporary protection for a
longer period. As stocks, hawthorn plants may be treated like stocks for
fruit trees ; and the different species and varieties may be budded and grafted
on them, either for dwarfs or standard high, in a similar maimer. Not only
the different species of Cratæ'gus, but those of A/espihis, Sórbus, Pyrus, and
even ikfàlus, Cydònia, Amelânchier, Eriobótrya, and others, may be grafted on
the common hawthorn ; and in this way field hedges might be rendered
ornamental, and even productive of useful fruits.
§ xiii. Parvìfòliit;.
Sect. Chnr. Leaves small, ovate, serrated or notched, but scarcely lobed.
Fruit green, or greenish yellow ; rather large, hai-d.
t t 25. C. p a r v i f o ' l i a Ait. The small-leaved Thorn.
Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 2. p. 1C9. ; Dec. P rod., 2. p. 627. ; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 598.
Synotiipnes. Méspilus axillàris Pers. Syn. 2. p. 37. ; M. tomentósa Poir. Dict. 4. p. 443. ; M. xan-
thocarpos L in . fil. Suppl. 254. ; M. parvifòlia Wats. Dend. Brit. ; Cratæ'gus tomentósa L in . Sv.
682., Treia Ehr. t, 17. ; C. uni-
flòra Du R o i; C. turbinàta
P tir sh ; C. viridis, axillaris, ¿e-
tulifòlia, flòrida, lineàris, Lodd.
Cat. ; Gooseberry-leaved Thorn;
Lord lley’s Thorn.
Engravings. Trew Ehr., t. 17.;
Dend. Brit., t. 65. ; our/j^-. 671. ;
i\nàfig. 727. in p. 402.
Spec. Char., 4^'- Leaves
oval-lanceolate, incisely
serrated, and pubescent.
Flowers mostly solitary.
Branchlets and calyxes
villose. Stipules bristlelike.
Sepals serrated.
Fruit almost top-shaped,
yellow, or yellowish
green. Nuts 5. (JDcr.
Prod.) A low slirub.
North America, New Jersey to Carolina, in sandy shady woods. Heigh
4-ft. to 6 ft. Introduced previously to 1713. Flowers white; May and
June, rather later than in most other species.
Haws large, greenish yellow ; ripe in
November, often hanging on the tree all
the winter.
671. C. parvifòlia.
672. C. p . flòrida.
Vaiieties.
^ C. p. 2 flòrida, C. florida Lodd. Cat.
( fg . 726. in p. 402., and our f g .
672.), has the leaves and Iruit somewhat
smaller and rounder than those
o f the species,
âfe C. p . 3 grossuîarioefôlia, C. linearis
Lodd. Cat. ( / g . 728. in p. 402., and o u r / g . 673.), has the leaves
lobed, and somewhat like those of the gooseberry.
These varieties run so much into
one another, that, unless they are
seen together in a living state, as
in Messrs. Loddiges’s arboretum,
it is difficult to distinguish them
from the species, or from each
other ; for, however diflerent the
leaves may appear in our figures
(see p. 402.), all the forms of these
may occasionally be found on the
same plant: and some plants of
each variety are wholly without
spines, while in others the spines
are very numerous. A s a llo fth em
are small plants, with flowers large
in proportion to the size o f the «73. p . grossularisrfòHa. ^ ^
leaves, they are well adapted for exemplifying the genus Cratoe'gus in a miniature
arboretum.