22 THE TREE PROPAGATOR AND PLANTER. 



This, no doubt, may be true in fact, as even the heart 

 of Oak is liable to be destroyed by the " wood-borers," 

 like the Beech, Ash, &c, whereas the Poplar never is. 

 A singular fact this, but why this is so I cannot pro- 

 perly account for, except that the wood of the Poplar is 

 too soft and woolly for these wood-borers to cut into. 

 Most probably, too, its being of a fine long grain 

 fussels their cutter-up so that they cannot work 

 pleasantly. But the Poplar is of no value for any 

 work where it is exposed to wet. 



The Poplars may be propagated by cuttings made of 

 long, stout young wood, well ripened and dug in as 

 for briar- rose cuttings, during the autumn of the year. 

 The Poplars may also be multiplied by seed, and by 

 suckers when they can be had. P. Grandidentata is the 

 most noble, perhaps, of all, towering as it does up into 

 the air for 100 feet. 



The Holly. 



There are a great many varieties of the Holly, and 

 nearly all of them are natives of Great Britain. There 

 is also one commonly called Knee Holly, which is not a 

 Holly at all. The Holly belongs to the nat. order 

 Aquifoliacew, while the Knee Holly, or Buscus Aculcatus, 

 belongs to the nat. order Liliacece, i.e. flowers resembling 

 a diminutive lily, while the flowers of the former belong 

 to a class quite different, Linn, class 4, and order 3, the 

 latter having 6 stamens and 1 style. 



AquifoMacecB conveys no idea of the class, but simply 

 refers to the plant belonging to those with prickly 

 leaves. This being the case, I am disposed to look upon 

 the term " Aquif oliacea) " as misleading, because there 

 are some other genera possessing prickly leaves, and 

 some Hollies that have leaves with no prickles ; and in 

 the case of the Ruscus, which has prickly leaves, it may 

 be and is called a Holly, while it is of another genus. 



The Hollies are a most splendid tribe of plants, and 

 may be considered among our best hardy English 

 foliaged evergreens, well adapted for every species of 



