PARK AND CEMETERY. 
53 
HOLLIES. 
All lovers of the holly must have noticed how 
rare it is to find it in cultivated collections. Neither 
the English nor our native one, opaca, is to be seen, 
or but in recent plantings. This is no doubt mainly 
due to the fact that hollies of some size are difficult 
to transplant. They are not so difficult to those 
who know how to treat them, but to the average 
planter who sets them in the ground as received 
from their former position, as he does other things, 
disappointment is pretty sure to come. 
Of late many nurseries have made a feature 
of growing small hollies, partly from transplanted 
seedlings from the woods and partly from seeds of 
their own sowing, and these nursery raised hollies 
are now possessed by many owners of large grounds, 
so that in the future hollies will be much more of a 
feature in plantings than what they have been. 
There is one thing which the 
planter of hollies must understand, 
which is, that every holly does not 
bear berries. This is often a serious 
disappointment to those who possess 
a tree and find it never gives them 
berries. Hollies belong to a class 
which contains plants which do not all 
produce perfect flowers. Some have 
male flowers alone, and only certain 
ones are fruit bearing. Perhaps in a 
hundred seedlings the half will be fruit 
bearing. It would be advisable to set 
out a halt dozen of small transplanted 
seedlings, to insure some berry-bear- 
ing ones among them, which this 
should do. This is the case with all 
descriptions of hollies, whether native or foreign. 
It should be said here that a great deal of the 
success in planting hollies depends on proper prun- 
ing. This consists in cutting offi every bit of foli- 
age and cutting away the branches unmercifully. 
Treated in this way, quite large specimens may be 
removed. Especially is it necessary to remove 
the foliage. And let me say here that this is true 
of all broad leaved evergreens. Take the leaves 
off and they can be transplanted as safely as the 
ordinary deciduous tree. 
Our native holly is the Ilex opaca. Perhaps 
the next best known one is the European, Ilex 
aquifolium. This is rarely seen here, but is well- 
known to all who have lived or traveled abroad. 
Why it is not more planted here it is impossible to 
say, unless it is that it is supposed to be not hardy. 
There are a good many about Washington, D. C. , 
and some fair sized ones are to be seen about Phila- 
delphia, and the probabilities are that where shel- 
tered they would do still further North. It is likely 
that those who wished to try these could get grafted 
ones of berry-bearing sorts, as the Europeans pay 
more attention to these matters than we do. It is 
just as easy for them to do this as it is to propagate 
the golden leaved and other pretty varieties, which 
they do. And this leads me to say that contrary 
to what is usually the case, these golden leaved 
sorts are said to be hardier even than the green 
leaved ones. Some of the spineless leaved hollies 
are most beautiful sorts. 
Lately a perfectly hardy holly has been dis- 
seminated here to some extent, the Japanese one. 
Ilex crenata, though the lovely specimen in the 
present illustration has been growing in its present 
position in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, for nearly 
25 years. It is the bushy specimen in the front 
and centre of the picture. It is a true evergreen, 
with pretty, small, spineless leaves and is as hardy 
as can be. It is about 9 feet high, and most as 
many in width, and it is a great attraction on ac- 
count of its variety. It is not believed that another 
nearly as large is to be found in the country. Nur- 
series have been offering it of late in moderate lots, 
but no one has much of it to offer. This specimen 
so far has failed to produce any berries. Most likely 
it is a male tree. 
The pretty tree on the right of the picture is the 
European beech, Fagus sylvatica, one of the very 
best of park trees and one that shapens up nicely of 
its own accord. 
The large tree on the left is the white hickory, 
Carya tomentosa, perhaps the best of all the species 
for noble foliage, and most country boys know its 
nuts are not to be despised. This tree is one of many 
Mr. Miller had well pruned a few years ago, with 
most beneficial results. It is now well clothed with 
foliage from bottom to top. Up its trunk English 
ivy is growing freely. The low shrub with spread- 
ing head growing under its branches is a Wistaria, 
JAPANESE HOLLY, FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA. 
