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USES. The wood of the common holly is hard, solid, and heavy. It takes on black 

 color better than any other kind of wood because its grain is fine and compact. Cabinet- 

 makers make very beautiful furniture out of it. The best birdlime for trapping birds is 

 made from the interior bark of this tree. It's ground up well to form a paste, which is then 

 put in a pot to decompose and buried in a cellar. When the paste has fermented 

 sufficiently, the woody fibers are taken out of it, and the lime then consolidates into one 

 batch. 



The best-formed of the new stalks are cut to make switches and whip handles. 



Holly can be used to make live hedges, which are very attractive because of their 

 enduring greenery. However, since they thin out at the base, it's best to plant gooseberry 

 bushes along with them. As a result, the hedges will become impenetrable and will 

 combine attractiveness with practicality. 



CULTIVATION. The trees are propagated readily from seeds or through young 

 plants that grow naturally on the old ones. They're not fastidious about the soil, but they 

 prefer slopes and clefts in rocks with northern exposure and the shade of large trees. 

 Several varieties of variegated holly are carefully cultivated. They're all diverse and 

 appealing. They're only maintained by grafting, as we know. They now number more 

 than thirty. Even more could be added by noting differences that appear on a few 

 individual branches among a large number of holly trees and then grafting them onto the 

 common holly. 



The Madeira holly suffers from severe cold in the north of France. It thrives very 

 well in gardens in Paris and in the south. 



KEY TO PLATES. 



1. Common holly. 2. Calyx. 3. Intact flower. 4. Cross-section of fruit. 



1. Madeira holly. 2. Calyx. 3. Intact flower. 4, Berry. 5. Detached seed. 6. Same, 

 split longitudinally. 



