COMMON HOLLY. 43 



be,* the usual practice of the present day is to raise the 

 species from seed, the varieties being- propagated by bud- 

 ding, grafting-, and sometimes by cuttings. Like the seeds 

 of the hawthorn, those of the Holly do not vegetate the 

 first year, the berries are therefore mixed with sand or 

 earth, and turned frequently over to facilitate the decay 

 of the skins and pulp ; this is generally effected in the 

 course of eight or ten months, or by the autumn following 

 that in which they were gathered ; they are then, by 

 sifting, cleansed from the earth with which they were 

 mixed, and sown in beds of finely pulverized soil, and 

 covered to the depth of nearly half an inch. Some at- 

 tempts to forward the germination of the Holly, and other 

 long dormant lying seeds, have been made by steeping and 

 fermenting the berries in hot moist bran, but this process 

 is not likely to obtain, being found uncertain from the 

 difficulty of regulating the temperature so as to destroy 

 and decompose the pulp without injuring the vitality of 

 the seed. 



In a year and a half, or two years, the young plants 

 should be taken from the seed bed and run into nursery 

 rows, the seedlings placed six or eight inches apart from 

 each other, and the rows at eighteen inches or two feet dis- 

 tance ; and so long as they remain in the nursery, they 

 ought to be removed at least every second year, in order 

 to ensure success on their final removal to their permanent 

 stations. 



At Twizell, where many thousands of Hollies have been 

 planted in the grounds and plantations with unvarying 

 success, the following mode of treatment previous to their 

 final removal from the nursery was adopted : — the seed- 



* It appears from Evelyn that few nurseries existed in his time, and that the 

 seedlings of the Holly and other forest-trees were mostly collected in the woods. 



