DECEMBER 241 



XOI 



This morning (December 31st, 1896) we have been 

 busy planting mistletoe berries on some young poplars. 

 Though not indigenous to Scotland, having 

 about the same northern range as the 

 nightingale, mistletoe grows very well north of the 

 Tweed if trouble be taken to sow it rightly. All that 

 is required, is to smear the viscid berry on the under 

 side of young branches (second year shoots are best) 

 of such trees as the plant loves poplar, apple, haw- 

 thorn, lime or acacia, without any incision or tying 

 whatever. In a day or two the glutinous juice will 

 have dried up, binding the seed safely to the bark; 

 and so it will remain, till, some day next spring, you 

 may notice a tiny green sprout, arching over and 

 pressing its free end into the smooth bark. In that it 

 disappears, and nothing more is seen for one, two, or 

 even three seasons, except a swelling of the branch 

 where the young plant is sending its roots through the 

 tissues of the host. At last, a pair of small green 

 cotyledons are put forth, after which growth is steady 

 and rapid. Do not be disappointed if your young 

 plants do not bear berries at first ; for they are dioecious, 

 that is, flowers of different sexes grow on separate 

 plants, and require time to get acquainted with each 

 other. But all will come in the end, and once mistletoe 

 is established it is not easily got rid of. 



