HOLLY AND mSTLETOE. 83 



it ; when it becomes no more nece.ssary, slie witli- 

 di'iiws the murderous Si)ines so annoying to the 

 tender noses of cattle, and economizes the mate- 

 rial for other and more useful purposes. 



Few people, probably, ever notice the precursors 

 of the brilliant scarlet berries, in the shape of 

 densely clustered and delicate pale white Uowers, 

 which cover the boughs of holly, in the corners 

 between leaf and stem, about the middle of May 

 or beginning of June; and yet holly-blossom, 

 when one conies to look closely into it, is in its 

 own way an extremely dainty and beautiful 

 llower ; and the effect of the dense masses of 

 pallid white rosettes against the glossy diirk green 

 of the waved foliage is almost as striking, when 

 once observed, as that of the scarlet fruit a little 

 later in the season against the self-same exc^uisite 

 background of subdued verdure. Only close ob- 

 servers of nature, however, watch the holly in 

 these its earlier stages, and notice how the deli- 

 cate and shoi't-lived petals fall off entire in a single 

 piece as soon as the flowering season is over, 

 strewing the ground below in thick profusion 

 with a little shower of tiansUicent witch-like 

 blossom. Soon the berries begin slowly to swell, 

 and in the autunni to acquire their rich red or, 

 less often, bright yellow color. It is a com- 

 mon and pretty superstition among dwellers in 

 the country that, when holly-berries are excep- 



