82 TREE-PLANTING. 



attain a height of three or four feet during the first 

 summer. 



Turner's Evergreen Oak. This is a hybrid, between 

 the common British oak and the evergreen oak, origi- 

 nally raised by a person named Turner, at the end 

 of the last century. It is one of the fastest-growing 

 broad-leaved evergreen trees we have, which, like 

 other hybrids, is propagated by grafting. Inserted in 

 healthy stocks of the common species, they attain the 

 height of four or five feet in two years, and afterwards 

 make equal progress with the common oak. In sum- 

 mer the tree has very much the appearance of the 

 common British oak, but in autumn its foliage appears 

 more massive, darker green, and glossier. It is con- 

 sidered a better evergreen than any other hybrid, and 

 healthy specimens are found to retain the leaves of 

 the former year throughout the summer, its hand- 

 some foliage recommending it as a tree of highly 

 ornamental appearance. 



The Common Evergreen Oak (Q. ilex). This is the 

 commonest evergreen tree to be met with in the 

 neighbourhood of Rome and Florence ; the ilex trees 

 in the celebrated gardens near Rome being considered 

 extremely beautiful. It has an abundant foliage of a 

 rich dark-green colour, the leaves having a fine polish, 

 with a downy tinge beneath. This species bears sea 

 exposure better than any other kind of European oak, 

 while, as it is not injured by a smoky atmosphere, 

 it is more suited for the embellishment of large towns 

 and cities than most other kinds of evergreen trees. 

 It commonly rises to the height of forty feet, but 

 trees of this description, favourably placed for the de- 

 velopment of their growth, have been known to attain 



