CHAP, xxxiv. ^QUIFOLIA'CE^E. /'LEX. 51S 



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. 



Cuttings. 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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