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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



with very pleasing effect to the beholder. I 

 consider a regularly formed clump of hollies 

 to be the perfection of beauty, in grouped 

 arboreal design. One single tree of moun- 

 tain-ash in the centre of this, would add 

 another charm to it ; and would be of use to 

 the ornithologist at the close of summer. 

 When the holly trees are in full bearing, and 

 the berries ripe, we may roam a long while 

 through the whole extent of British botany, 

 before we find a sight more charming to the 

 eye than the intermixture .of bright red and 

 green which this lovely plant produces. 



I have a fine circular clump of hollies here 

 (Walton Hall), under which the pheasants 

 are fed ; and to which, throughout the whole 

 of the winter, a vast number of sparrows, 

 green linnets, buntings, blackbirds, and 

 some starlings resort, to take their nocturnal 

 repose in peace and quiet. The holly sheds 

 a large proportion of its leaves, after the 

 summer has set in. These remain on the 

 ground in thick profusion. So formidable 

 are their hard and pointed spikes to the feet 

 of prowling quadrupeds, that neither the 

 cat, nor the weasel, nor the foumart, nor the 

 fox, nor even the ever-hungry Hanoverian 

 rat, dare invade the well- defended territory. 

 Hence the birds, which in yew trees and in 

 ivy would be exposed to inevitable destruc- 

 tion from the attacks of these merciless foes, 

 are safe from danger in the holly bush. 



People generally imagine that the holly is 

 of tardy growth. It may be so, in ordinary 

 cases ; but means may be adopted to make 

 this plant increase with such effect as to 

 repay us amply for all our extra labor and 

 expense. Thus, let us dig the ground to a 

 full yard in depth, and plant the hollies 

 during the last week of May — taking care 

 to puddle their roots well into the pulverised 

 soil. We shall find, by the end of Septem- 

 ber, that many of the plants will have shot 

 nearly a foot in length, and that not one of 

 them has failed, let the summer have been 

 ever so dry. Small plants, bought in a 

 nursery, and placed in your own garden for 

 a couple of years, will be admirably adapted 

 for the process of transplanting. Had I 

 been aware in early life of this encouraging 

 growth of the holly, it should have formed 

 all my fences in lieu of hawthorn, which 

 after arriving at full maturity suddenly turns 

 brown in summer, and dies in a few weeks, 

 without having given any other previous 

 notice of near approaching decay. 



Birds in general are not fond of holly 

 berries ; but many sorts will feed upon them 

 when driven by " necessity's supreme com- 

 mand." Thus, during the time that the 

 fields are clad in snow, and the heps and the 

 haws have already been consumed, then it 

 is that the redwing, the blackbird, the field- 

 fare, and the storm-cock, numbed by the cold, 



and bold through want of food, come to the 

 berry-bearing holly close to your house, and 

 there too often fall a prey to the gun of the 

 designing fowler. 



In these days of phantom schemes and 

 national extravagance, when work is scarce 

 and penury fast increasing, the holly tree 

 is doomed to suffer from the lawless pilferer's 

 hand. When least expected, you find it 

 arrested in its growth. Its smaller branches 

 by degrees lose their vitality, and, by the 

 end of the following year, one half of the 

 tree appears as though it had received a blast 

 from the passing thunderstorm. This 

 declining aspect of the holly has been occa- 

 sioned by the hand of sordid mischief. It is 

 well known that birdlime is produced from 

 its bark. In the spring of the year, at ear- 

 liest dawn of day, our finest holly trees in 

 this neighborhood are stripped of large pieces 

 of their bark by strolling vagabonds, who 

 sell it to the nearest druggist. So common 

 has this act of depredation been in this 

 vicinity, that I should be at a loss to find a 

 single holly tree, in any hedge outside of the 

 park wall, that has escaped the knife of these 

 unthinking spoilers ! 



Some six or seven years ago, there stood 

 in the ornamented grounds of my baronet 

 neighbor a variegated holly, of magnificent 

 growth ; and it bore abundant crops of ber- 

 ries ; a circumstance not very frequent in 

 hollies of this kind. Many a half hour have 

 I stood to admire this fine production of 

 nature ; for it was unparalleled, in this 

 part of Yorkshire, in beauty, size, and vigor. 

 But, at last, it was doomed to perish by a 

 plundering and unknown hand ; one morning 

 in spring I found the whole of its bark strip- 

 ped off the bole, for full two feet in length. 

 Notwithstanding this disaster, the berries 

 became ripe in due time ; whilst its leaves 

 apparently retained their wonted verdure 

 upon the greater branches. Even the year 

 following it was alive, and put forth new 

 leaves and blossoms ; but the leaves were of 

 a stinted growth, and the berries did not 

 attain their usual size. During the course of 

 the third year from the day of its misfor- 

 tune, the whole of the foliage fell to -the 

 ground ; and then the tree itself became, 

 like our giant debt, — a dead unsightly 

 weight upon the land, 



Charles Waterton. 



SYMPATHY. 



The tender violet loves to grow 



Within the shade that roses throw; 



The myrtle branch bends towards the rose — 



Behold how God his wisdom shows! 



How natures., formed alike, come nigh — 



Attracted by sweet sympathy ! 



