24 DECORATIVE PLANTS, TREES AND SHRUBS 



them themselves, purchasing from some of the large Northern 

 growers who have plenty of cheap land at their disposal. Many, too, 

 are raised on the Continent and imported here. Occasionally we 

 have had to purchase, but on the whole we rely upon cuttings, as 

 our requirements per annum do not run into many hundreds. The 

 way in which we make our cuttings is shown in Fig. 3. 



HOLLIES 



The green holly forms a good hedge and is a good resistant. It 

 is quite popular, and because it can be clipped hard with impunity 

 it may be used in quite small places. The plants are almost wholly 

 raised from seed, as this is a comparatively quick and inexpensive 

 method seeds which may be gathered on the country side costing 

 but little. During the winter the berries are heaped, or put in a 

 barrel, and mixed with sand. By spring the flesh of the berries has 

 rotted and the seed only remains. It is, with the sand, sown in 

 March, by being strewed along trenches 2 to 3 inches deep and 

 covered in. They do not come up quickly nor all together, some 

 seeds lying dormant for a year ; so the rows remain undisturbed for 

 two years, by which time most of the seedlings are large enough to 

 handle and transplant. At three or four years old they are ready for 

 sale as fit for making hedges, being far more successful when planted 

 at that age than at any subsequent period. Variegated holly is seldom 

 used for hedging ; it is too expensive for one thing, and a clipped 

 variegated holly loses all the best effects of its variegation. 



EUONYMUS 



The green euonymus (E. japonicus) and its golden variegated 

 form are both very suitable and effective plants where only a dwarf 

 hedge is needed. Their glossy dark green and green and gold foliage 

 is refreshing, and they grow very quickly indeed. They are both 

 among the easiest of shrubs to raise from cuttings, and by the time 

 they are two years old they are saleable. In growing a quantity of 

 these or the other variegated varieties, or indeed in planting a hedge, 

 an exposed position should be avoided except in the favourable 

 climate of the south. With us, on the exposed uplands of the East 

 coast, the late spring frosts and the east winds play havoc with the 



