286 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



in England, and have brought them to more 

 perfection than they are in any other part of 

 the world." 



Amongst the kinds of holly which we no- 

 ticed in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, we 

 were most pleased with a variety, with a very 

 small pointed leaf, named Aquifolium serratum, 

 and a second, with a very broad leaf, quite 

 free from spines, which was called Ilex 

 balearica. 



Columella seems to have recommended the 

 holly to the Romans, as a proper fence for 

 gardens. In his tenth book he says, 



" And let such grounds with walls or prickly hedge, 

 Thick set, surrounded be, and well secured; 

 Not pervious to the cattle, nor the thief." 



Evelyn tells us, that his garden at Say's 

 Court was surrounded with an impregnable 

 hedge of about four hundred feet in length, nine 

 feet high, and five in diameter ; " It mocks," 

 says this worthy author, " the rudest assaults 

 of the weather, beasts, or hedge-breakers ;" 

 and it was almost the only thing belonging to 

 his garden that was not destroyed by the Czar 

 of Muscovy. Mr. Evelyn had lent his house 

 to Peter the Great, in order that he might be 

 near the Dock-yard at Deptford, during his 

 stay in England ; and we are told that this im- 



