Ernxr*< 



THE UNIVERSAL FAMILY PAPER FOR INTER-COMMUNICATIONS ON 



Conducted by WILLIAM KSDD, of Hammersmith,— 



Author of the Familiar and Popular Essays on "Natural History;" "British Song 

 Birds;" " Birds of Passage ; " "Instinct and Reason;" " The Aviary," &c. 



"the OBJECT OP OUR WORK is to make men WISER, WITHOUT obliging them to turn over folios and 

 QUARTOS.— TO FURNISH MATTER FOR THINKING AS WELL AS READING."— EVELYN. 



No. 52.— 1852. 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25. 



Price 3d. 



Or, in Monthly Parts, Price Is. Id. 



THE HOLLY. 



See Winter comes to rule the varied year, 

 Sullen and sad, with all his rising train, 

 Vapors, and clouds, and storms. 



Thomson. 



I AM VERY PARTIAL TO THE HOLLY, THE 



yew, and the ivy. They give both food 

 and shelter to the birds ; whilst their charm- 

 ing green foliage makes us almost forget that 

 winter has set in. The holly claims my pre- 

 ference ; for, in addition to food and shelter, 

 it affords an impenetrable retreat to those 

 birds which take up their quarters on its 

 branches for the night. 



Our ancestors knew and felt the value 

 of the holly hedge, when the wintry blast 

 whistled through the naked hawthorn. Hence 

 they raised it as a barrier against the north ; 

 and, on the breaking of the clouds at noon, 

 they would resort to the protection which it 

 offered, and there enjoy the sun's delightful 

 presence. But modern innovation, which, 

 in nine times out of ten, does more harm 

 than good, seems to have condemned the 

 holly hedge as a thing of stiff unsightly 

 form, and in its vacant place has introduced a 

 scanty sprinkling of isolated plants. I own 

 that I am for the warm arboreous plan of 

 ancient days ; and thus I never pass a gar- 

 den where yew and holly hedges grow, with- 

 out stopping to admire them, and then I pro- 

 ceed onwards with favorable notions of the 

 owner's taste. 



But, to the holly in particular. I am so 

 convinced of its utility both to men and 

 birds, that I have spared no pains in rearing 

 it as a shelter from the cold, when Boreas, 

 sure harbinger of storms, sweeps over the 

 dreary waste. 



The deeper and richer the soil, so much 

 the better for the holly. Still, this favorite 

 plant of mine will thrive almost in any soil, 

 and even amongst the clefts of rocks, where 

 there is scarcely any soil at all. Neither 

 can any of the four rude winds of heaven 

 affect the perpendicular growth of the holly 

 tree, although they make an impression upon 



the sturdy oak itself. Thus, in this neigh- 

 borhood, whilst we see the elm and the beech 

 leaning towards the east by the overbearing 

 pressure of the western blast, we find that 

 the holly has not given way to its impe- 

 tuosity. Indeed, keep the roots of the holly 

 clear of stagnant water, and you will have 

 little more to do, for it forms its own defence ; 

 and, moreover, it has one advantage over 

 most other plants — namely, it can push its 

 way successfully up amid surrounding 

 shade and pressure. Its lateral branches, 

 too, will take root, so soon as they come in 

 contact with the soft soil beneath them. 



If you place a young holly-plant in a full- 

 grown hawthorn hedge, it will vegetate in 

 that incommodious site ; and will manage 

 at last to raise its head aloft, and flourish clear 

 of all opposition. Thus, driven from its 

 native home, perhaps through scarcity of 

 wheat and whiskey, I have known a hardy 

 son of Caledonia, although put in a situation 

 apparently hostile to advancement either in 

 fame or in fortune, maintain himself under 

 fearful trials of adversity. In process of 

 time, his perseverance and honesty were 

 crowned by complete success. He took 

 kindly to it, where you thought there would 

 be no chance of ever getting on ; but, by 

 carefully watching his hour of advance, in 

 the death of this competitor or in the negli- 

 gence of that, this frugal, careful, steady 

 emigrator from the North, moved slowly 

 onwards, till, in due good time, he passed 

 through all surrounding difficulties : and, 

 having got at last into the full sunshine of 

 good fortune, he there took the lead on the 

 high road to long-expected wealth and 

 honors. 



He whose nerves would be affected at the 

 sight of a straight holly hedge, might pre- 

 vent their irritation by forming a crescent ; 

 say a segment of a circle to a radius of sixty 

 yards. This would present a fine appear- 

 ance to the eye, whilst it shut out both the 

 north-west and the north-east winds of win- 

 ter. Hollies, too, may be planted in a clump, 



Vol* IL 



