January 9. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
275 
establishment, may be seen one of the most extensive 
and valuable stocks of exotio plants which is to be 
met with in any private establishment in this country. 
The following is a list of a few of the most remark¬ 
able plants introduced to this country by Messrs. 
James Veitch and Son :— 
Abutilon vitifolium. 
Aerides Lobbii. 
iEschynanthus Lohbiana. 
„ pulcker. 
Ansoctochilus Lobbii. 
Begonia coccinea. 
„ coarctata. 
„ estuans. 
Berberis Darwinii. 
Bulbophyllum Lobbii. 
Calantbe vestita. 
,, curculigoides. 
Cantua dependens. 
Ceratostemma longi flora. 
Colliusia heterophylla. 
Cryptomeria Lobbii. 
Cypripedium barbatum su¬ 
perbum. 
Cypripedium caudatum. 
Desfontanesia spinosa. 
Dendrobium albo sangui- 
neum. 
Dendrobium chrysotoxum. 
„ Farmerii. 
„ Kuhlii. 
„ tortile. 
,, transparens. 
„ Veitchianum. 
Deutzia gracilis. 
Dractena indivisa. 
Echites atropurpurea. 
,, splendens. 
Escallonia macrantha. 
„ organensis. 
Eschscholtzia tenuifolia. 
Eugeria Ugni. 
Eitz-Roya Patigonica. 
Fuchsia macrantha. 
„ serratifolia. 
,, spectabilis. 
Iiexacentris lutea. 
„ mysorensis. 
Flindsia longiflora. 
„ violacea. 
Hoya bella. 
„ campanulata. 
„ fraterna. 
Ixora Javaniana. 
„ Lobbii. 
,, salicifolia. 
Impatiens Jerdonise. 
Lardizabala triternata. 
Leptosiphon aureum. 
„ luteum. 
Tjapageria rosea. 
Laurus aromatica. 
Lilium giganteum. 
Limatodes rosea. 
Lomaria Magellanica. 
Lomatia ferruginea. 
Magnolia fragrantissima. 
Mahonia Leschenaulti. 
Mauettia coccinea. 
Medinilla magnifica. 
„ speciosa. 
Mitraria coccinea. 
Nepenthes albo marginata. 
laevis. 
lanata. 
Phyllamphora. 
sanguinea. 
mucronata spe¬ 
ciosa. 
Phaltenopsis grandifiora. 
„ Lobbii. 
„ rosea. 
Philesia buxifolia. 
Picea bracteata. 
Pleuroma elegans. 
Pleione humilis. 
„ Laginaria. 
Perne 
ttya 
„ maculata. 
Podocarpus nubigena. 
Quereus oegrifolia. 
Rhododendron californi- 
cum. 
Rhododendron Javanicum. 
,, jasminiflorum. 
Rubus japonicus. 
„ leucodermus. 
Saxe-Gothea conspicua. 
Saccolobium Blumei major. 
,, curvifoliutn. 
„ miniatum. 
Sohralia dichotoma. 
Sonerila margaratacea. 
Tropoeolum Smithianum. 
„ Lobbii. 
,, speciosum. 
,, azureum. 
Torreya myristica. 
Thuja gigantea. 
'L'elepogon obovatum. 
Viola lutea. 
Vanda coerulea. 
„ tricolor. 
„ suavis. 
Veronica salicifolia. 
Welliugtonia gigantea. 
Wliitlavia speciosa. 
THE PIOLLY. 
Of all the evergreens we possess, not one can excel 
this for either utility or decoration ; indeed, can any one 
evergreen equal it? Whether we take it as assisting in 
the embellishment of our garden scenery, as shelter for 
cattle in hedges, as a tree for the grove, as occasionally 
furnishing shelter for game, or as a park tree, it has 
scarcely a compeer. Lot any one examine shrubberies, 
or belts, in various parts of the kingdom, and lie will 
find that, whatever the mixture of kinds might have 
been originally, the bill-book and saw, before many 
years pass away, remove, through decay or unsightli¬ 
ness, numbers of things which at first planting, and for 
a few years afterwards, appeared to set the Hollies at 
nought; but the Holly, where it thrives, by degrees 
assumes a kind of supremacy, not in mere height or 
bulk, certainly, but in a permanency of character, and 
dignity of appearance, which scarcely admits of com¬ 
petition. 
How seldom do we find thriving Hollies a prey to the 
bill-hook, the saw, or the woodman’s axe! Its im¬ 
portance in what may be termed winter scenery will be 
denied by no one ; and, although many of our conifers, 
in which we are now so extremely rich, excel it in 
towering dignity, and attract more, through peculiarity 
of form; yet, who is he that will assign our Holly a 
secondary degree of importance ? 
As to its Christmas associations, let bygone centuries 
speak. It is said by some, that our native Holly, or, as 
botanists term it, Ilex aquifolium, derives its name from 
a corruption of the word holy. Its fame, indeed, is at 
least European. In Scotland, we are told that the 
Holly hedges atTynningham, which were planted about 
1712, are a score feet in height, and a dozen feet in 
width. Our readers will be at once aware, that a tree 
so universally spread in many climes, in most soils, 
possesses amazing adaptabilities. 
With regard to soils, I have had a good deal to do with 
the Holly in my day, and have witnessed, on countless 
occasions, its respective degrees of luxuriance on what 
I call, in a practical sense, our three principal soils:— 
peats, or moor soils; adhesive loams; and loose, or 
sandy soils; and I really know not to which it is most 
partial. One thing I may relate as to my own expe¬ 
rience : I never knew the Holly to thrive in a soil that 
was stagnant below through excess of moisture. It is a 
tree that will not only bear, but enjoy, any amount of 
rain, providing there is a free escape for the excess of 
water; and even in certain ungenial subsoils, to which 
Hollies have a great aversion when charged with 
moisture, I have known them to enter freely when in 
a mellow and somewhat dry condition. 
When, in my younger days, I practised in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the great Metropolis, I had a fancy that 
there was nothing like what cockuey gardeners termed 
loam, which then signified only one thing—an adhesive 
loam, yet one that was easily worked when not too wet : 
it might be Wimbledon loam—it might bo Norwood. 
But subsequent practice has shown me, that it is not by 
any means in this case a mere matter of texture. In 
the district from whence I write we have all sorts of 
soils; and, as to my cottage, why, if I travel two 
hundred yards to the east, I shall speedily be ancle-deep 
in clay; if I move one hundred to the south, I shall be 
slipping about in light sandy loam; but, by retracing 
my steps, and moving a score paces from the back door 
of my cottage, I am speedily in a black peaty morass. 
I may say, to the east lay many square miles of heavy 
clay soil; to the south, as many of a free, sandy loam ; 
and to the north, or north-west, Delamere forest, covered 
for miles with Heather, Scotch Firs, and Larch. Now, 
on all these soils the Holly thrives: tolerably well on 
the clay, better still in the moor soil, and best of all in 
the free sandy loam. 
To show that the Holly does not, of necessity, require 
even a moist soil, I may observe, that in this very 
neighbourhood, which, on the forest side, contains 
scores of enclosures of reclaimed moor-soil, Hollies may 
be found, in every “ hedge cop,” in the most healthy 
state imaginable—many of them quite the pride of the 
locality. As our readers in general may not know what 
a Cheshire “ hedge-cop ” means, I may tell them, that 
most of the enclosures of strips, or corners, of moorland- j 
