COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS TREES 141 



These mineral constituents of the ashes are 

 derived from the sap and tissues of the host- 

 plant. 



The time for inserting the seed into the host- 

 plant is the month of March. 



Perhaps the most popular of aU Christmas 

 decorations is mistletoe, which, to the younger 

 generation, is the very emblem of gaiety and 

 innocent mischief. 



Very little mistletoe is found in England, and is 

 propagated chiefly through the agency of birds 

 wiping their beaks, to which the seeds adhere, on 

 the barks of trees on which they alight. 



Normandy and Brittany are the chief sources of 

 supply, not only to London, but to all the large 

 market towns in the British Isles. There is also 

 an export trade in mistletoe from England to 

 America, which makes the English dealers by far 

 the largest customers of France. 



The French Agricultural Department does not 

 look upon the mistletoe's growth with favour, but 

 orders its wholesale destruction in any particular 

 " county," once every three years, " counties " 

 being taken in rotation. 



The quantity that is imported iuto England every 

 Christmas runs into several thousands of tons, and 

 Normandy is by far the largest producer. 



