iS8 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



the barn floor from morning to night will readily reahse 

 that the wood it was made of had need to be tough. 



The wood of the holly is of very fine grain, and as 

 white as ivory. It works well on the lathe, and can be cut 

 into veneers for the cabinet-maker, and at the time that 

 Tunbridge ware was in demand was of great value as 

 an inlay, one reason being that it took various stains so 

 very readily on its white surface, and could thus be 

 anything from holly to ebony that the mosaicist required. 

 It has been used, too, by the draughtsman on wood as a 

 substitute for box or pear, and the engraver for wall-paper 

 patterns finds its dense even surface no less valuable for 

 his special work. As a tree it is much branched, and these 

 branches make excellent walking-sticks. At Tynyngham, 

 in Scotland, the seat of the Earl of Haddington, Selby, in 

 his History of Forest "Trees, published in the year 1 843, 

 tells us may be seen two thousand nine hundred and fifty 

 yards of holly hedges, planted nearly two hundred years 

 ago. In height they vary from ten to twenty five feet, and 

 are from nine to thirteen feet in width. These are hedges 

 indeed ! 



The leaves of the holly vary greatly in their prickliness, 

 the foliage on the younger shoots being almost or quite 

 free from spines, while the older and lower branches are 

 clothed with foHage of very spinous character. The upper 

 branches carry the less spiny foliage, and also the greater 

 proportion of the flowers and fruit. One old writer, we 

 see, affirms that "there be three sorts of Holly, i. The 

 Holly Tree without prickles. 2. The Holly-bush with 

 prickly Leaves. 3. The Holly-bush with yellow Berries. 

 Yet there be some that affirme that with and without 



