462 THE HOLLY. 



I have a fine circular clump of hollies here, under which the phea- 

 sants are fed ; and to which, throughout the whole of the winter, a 

 vast number of sparrows, green linnets, buntings, blackbirds, and 

 some starlings resort, to take their nocturnal repose in peace and 

 quiet. The holly sheds a large proportion of its leaves after the 

 summer has set in. These remain on the ground in thick profusion. 

 So formidable are their hard and pointed spikes to the feet of prow- 

 ling quadrupeds, that neither the cat, nor the weasel, nor the foumart, 

 nor the fox, nor even the ever-hungry Hanoverian rat, dare invade the 

 well-defended territory. Hence the birds, which in yew trees and in 

 ivy would be exposed to inevitable destruction from the attacks of 

 these merciless foes, are safe from danger in the holly bush. 



People generally imagine that the holly is of tardy growth. It 

 may be so in ordinary cases ; but means may be adopted to make 

 this plant increase with such effect as to repay us amply for all our 

 extra labour and expense. Thus, let us dig the ground to a full 

 yard in depth, and plant the hollies during the last week of May, 

 taking care to puddle their roots well into the pulverised soil. We 

 shall find, by the end of September, that many of the plants will 

 have shot nearly a foot in length, and that not one of them has 

 failed, let the summer have been ever so dry. Small plants, bought 

 in a nursery, and placed in your own garden for a couple of years, 

 will be admirably adapted for the process of transplanting. Had I 

 been aware in early life of this encouraging growth of the holly, it 

 should have formed all my fences in lieu of hawthorn, which, after 

 arriving at full maturity, suddenly turns brown in summer, and dies 

 in a few weeks, without having given any other previous notice of 

 near approaching decay. 



Birds in general are not fond of holly berries, but many sorts will 

 feed upon them when driven by " necessity's supreme command." 

 Thus, during the time that the fields are clad in snow, and the heps 

 and the haws have already been consumed, then it is that the redwing, 

 the blackbird, the fieldfare, and the stormcock, numbed by the cold, 

 and bold through want of food, come to the berry-bearing holly close 

 to your house, and there too often fall a prey to the gun of the 

 designing fowler. 



In these days of phantom schemes and national extravagance, 



