644 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



young shoots in the early spring, with the crop of young leaves. Nothing 

 showy about them attracts attention. 



The fruit is the well-known berry, the glory of winter decorations. 

 It is usually red, but sometimes yellow. The latter color is not often 

 seen in decorations because it is a poor contrast with the glossy green of 

 the leaves. The berries ripen late in autumn and hang until nearly 

 spring, provided they are let alone. That is seldom their fortune, for if 

 they escape the wreath hunter at Christmas, they remain subject to 

 incessant attacks by birds. Fortunately, the berries are not very choice 

 food for the feathered bevies that fly in winter; otherwise, the trees would 

 be stripped in a day or two. Birds are attracted by the color, and 

 they keep pecking away, taking one or two berries at a bait, and in the 

 course of a long winter they get most of them. 



The gathering of holly leaves and berries is an industry of much 

 importance, taken as a whole; but it lasts only a short time, and is 

 carried on without much system. The greatest source of supply is 

 northern Alabama, and the neighboring parts of surrounding states ; but 

 some holly is gathered in all regions where it is found. Those who collect 

 it for market make small wages, but the harvest comes at a season when 

 little else is doing, and the few dimes and dollars picked up are regarded 

 as clear gain particularly since most of the holly harvesters have no 

 land of their own and forage for supplies on other people's possessions. 



The seeds of holly are a long time in germinating, and those who 

 plant them without knowing this are apt to despair too soon. The great 

 differences in the germinating habits of trees are remarkable. Some 

 of the maples bear seeds which sprout within a few days after they come 

 in contact with damp soil, certain members of the black oak group of 

 trees drop their acorns with sprouts already bursting the hulls, and 

 mangroves are in a still greater hurry, and let fall their seeds with roots 

 several inches long ready to penetrate the mud at once. But holly is in 

 no hurry. Its seeds lie buried in soil until the second year before they 

 send their radicles into the soil. They are so slow that nurserymen 

 usually prefer to go into the woods and dig up seedlings which are 

 already of plan table size. 



Users of woods find many places for holly but not in large amounts. 

 The reported output by all the sawmills in the United States in 1909 was 

 37,000 feet, and Maryland produced more than any other state. The 

 wood is employed for inlay work, parquetry, marquetry, small musical 

 instruments, and keys for pianos and organs. Engravers find it suit- 

 able for various classes of work, its whiteness giving the principal value. 

 It approaches ivory in color nearer than any other American wood. 

 Brush back manufacturers convert it into their choice wares. It is 



