CHAP. XXXIV. AQUIFOLIA‘CEA. I‘LEX. s 513 
in spring, or early in autumn, especially in the spring; shaded (if it prove too 
hot and searching) till they begin to shoot of themselves, and, in very sharp 
weather, and during our eastern etesians, covered with dry straw or haulme; 
and if any one of them seem to perish, cut it close, and you shall soon see it 
revive. Of these seedlings, and by this culture, I have raised plants and hedges, 
full 4 ft. high, in four years. The lustier and bigger the sets are, the better; and, 
if you can procure such as are a thumb’s breadth thick, they will soon furnish 
into an hedge.” (Hunter's Evelyn, p. 266.) Seedlings of holly, yew, and 
other indigenous trees, are still collected occasionally from the woods in 
country places, by the children of labourers, and sold to the local nurserymen ; 
but the more general practice is, to raise the species from seeds, and the 
varieties by budding, grafting, or by cuttings. 
By Seeds. As the seeds of the holly, like those of the hawthorn, do not 
come up the first year, to save ground, and the expense of weeding, the ber- 
ries are commonly buried in the soil, or kept mixed up in a heap of earth for 
one year: this heap of earth, into which the berries are put as soon as 
gathered, should be turned over several times in the course of the season, to 
facilitate the rotting of the pulp and husks. This will generally be effected 
by the autumn succeeding that in which they were gathered from the tree; 
and they may then be taken, and separated from the earth with which they 
were mixed, by sifting, and sown in beds of finely prepared soil, and covered 
about a quarter of an inch. Thus prepared, when sown in autumn, they will 
come up the June following. A covering of half-rotten leaves, fronds of fern 
or spruce fir, or even of litter or straw, placed over the seed-beds, will protect 
the soil from extreme heat and drought, and will greatly facilitate the progress 
of the germination. In Scotland and in Ireland, this is seldom found necessary ; 
but in England and in France, the climate being warmer in the beginning of 
summer, and the air drier, it is found a great advantage. As the holly is apt 
to suffer from transplanting, it should never be kept in the nursery longer 
than two years in one place. When the seeds are to be sown as soon as 
gathered, Boutcher directs that the berries should hang on the trees till 
December ; or, if they could be defended from birds, till February or March. 
As soon as they are gathered, he says, “throw them into a tub with water, 
and rub them between your hands till the seeds are divested of their thick 
glutinous covering; pour off the water, with the light seeds that swim, the 
mucilage, &c., and spread the sound seeds on a cloth, in a dry airy place, 
rubbing them often, and giving them a fresh cloth daily till they are quite dry. 
If this be done in autumn or winter, mix them with sand, and keep them dry 
till spring ; but, if they have been gathered in spring, let them be sown imme- 
diately.” (Mart. Mill.) Bradley suggests a method of forwarding the ger-— 
mination of the seeds of the holly, and other hard seeds, by fermenting them 
with moist bran ; but the difficulty of keeping the temperature such as, while 
it decomposes the pulp of the berries, shall not destroy their vital principle, 
seems to render this a very precarious process. 
Budding and Grafting. These operations are performed at.the usual times, 
and in the usual manner; but it has been observed by Tschoudi, that cleft- 
grafting does not succeed nearly so well with the holly as whip-grafting or 
budding. In England, the stocks budded or grafted on are generally of four 
or five years’ growth; and the grafting is effected in March, and the budding 
in July. 
iadtina: These are made in autumn, of the ripened summer shoots, 
They are planted in sandy soil, in a shady border, and covered with hand- 
glasses; and they generally put forth roots the following spring. The lower 
branches of the common holly, in Ireland, we are informed, strike as readily 
by cuttings as those of the common willow, emitting roots from every part of 
the shoot, as well as from the joints. This facility of rooting in Ireland may 
be owing to the moisture of the climate of that country; experience proving 
that the branches of trees and shrubs which are grown nearest the ground, or 
on the north side of the plant, so as to be kept shaded and moist, always root 
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