280 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 31, 1898. 
Ih ints for mmateurs. 
THE HOLLY. 
(Concluded from p. 264J 
In addition to its name of Holly and the old 
spelling of ■' Holy,” the tree has had several other 
names. In the time of Gerarde and Parkinson it 
was called " Holme,” but this name is now applied 
to the Holme Oak (Quercus Ilex). In Gerarde’s 
time the tree had lost its older name of " Hulver,” 
at least, as far as common usage was concerned, 
although Gerarde speaks of it as the "Holme," 
"Holly," or "Hulver" tree. Cotgrave gives the 
names " Houx," which is the same as the modern 
French spelling, " Hollie," " Hulme," and " Hulver." 
Anne Pratt says that " the plant is still called 
" Hulme " in Devon, and " Hulver " in Norfolk, and 
quotes the lines :— 
" This herbere was full of flowers gende, 
Into the which as I beholde gan 
Betwixt an hulfere and a wood bende 
As I was ware I saw a man." 
Skinner suggests that the name " hulver " or hulfere 
is either from the English hold, and the Anglo- 
Saxon feor= long=a plant that lasts long; or from 
" hold fair." because it holds its beauty all the year. 
Nowadays,we are accustomed to see Holly planted 
merely as an ornamental bush or tree, or else 
utilised as a hedge plant, for which its naturally 
close growth and prickly leaves render it very suit¬ 
able. To say that Holly ever was or could be used 
as a fodder plant for cows, horses, pigs, and other 
domestic animals would cause surprise to many, and 
yet four or five centuries ago, and even earlier, it 
was very largely employed for this purpose. Even 
as late as the close of the 17th century the practice 
was still common in parts of England, as the follow¬ 
ing entry in the diary of Abraham de la Pryme, 
which was published by the Surtees Society under 
the year 1696, goes to show. 
" In the south-west of Yorkshire, at and about 
Bradfield, and in Darbishire, they feed all their 
sheep in winter with holly leaves and bark, which 
they eat more greedily than any grass. To every 
farm there is so many holly trees, and the more 
there is the farm is dearer, but care is taken to plant 
great numbers of them in all farms thereabouts, 
and all these holly trees are smooth-leaved and not 
prickly. As soon as the sheep sees the sheppard 
come with an ax in his hand to the first tree he 
comes at and stands all in a row round about the 
tree expecting impatiently the fall of a bow, which 
when it is fallen all as many as can eats thereof and 
the sheppard going further to another tree all those 
that could not come unto the eating of the first 
follow him to this, and so on. As soon as they have 
eaten all the leaves they begin of the bark and pairs 
it all off." 
He also says that " as long as the trees are within 
the reach of cattle the leaves on them be armed with 
spines, but as soon as they attain a safe height the 
leaves on them be quite smooth." 
The poet Southey expresses the same idea in 
different fashion when he says, speaking of the 
Holly— 
" Below a circling fence its leaves are seen 
Wrinkled and keen ; 
No grazing cattle through their prickly round 
Can reach to wound: 
But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
Smooth and unarm'd the pointless leaves appear.” 
And again, 
" Gentle at home amid my friends I’d be, 
Like the high leaves upon the Holly tree.” 
Although the poet evidently thinks so, it is not en¬ 
tirely the fact of the plant being above the reach of 
browsing cattle that causes it to produce unarmed 
leaves, although in the wondrous workings of 
Nature it may have something to do with it. When 
the tree reaches a height at which its branches are 
beyond the reach of cattle it is approaching 
maturity, and it is only on the top branches of very 
high trees that we find smooth and prickless leaves. 
That horses used at one time to be fed on Holly 
is proved by the words of the old English poem— 
" Lyarde is ane olde horse and may noght wele 
drawe, 
He salle be putt into the parke, holyne for to 
gnawe." 
In south-western Yorkshire the phrase a hag of 
hollin was quite common in the 17th century, 
although it has now been dead for some time. 
Hunter, in his Hallamshire Directory, defines this 
phrase as " the Holly trees growing upon a portion 
of ground in the commons of Sheffield." The lord 
of the manor rented these grounds out by the hag, 
and the rent paid was known as hollin rent. Many 
persons in the old records are described as paying 
rent for hagges of hollin, and taking leases of 
hagges. Hagge is from the Icelandic hagi— a pasture. 
In the 12th century a Holly pasture was called in 
mediaeval Latin holina, and in English Holemede. The 
Domesday Book of St. Paul’s speaks of forty acres of 
Holly pastures at Heybridge, in Essex, on which 
thirty cows with their bulls and calves and five 
sows with their young could be fed. 
Apart from its decorative qualities the Holly is of 
economic value, although we no longer employ it, as 
our forefathers did, as an economic plant. The 
wood is very hard and white, and is thus used by 
engravers. It is capable of taking a high polish, 
and when dyed black is little inferior to ebony. It 
possesses, moreover, great flexibility, and has been 
used for centuries for the making of whip shafts. 
Thus in the words of the old writer:— 
" They their Holly whips have braced, 
And tough hazel goads have got." 
Again, Chaucer, the father of English poetry 
says : — 
" The bilder oke, and eke the hardie ashe, 
The box, pipetree, the holme to whippes lash 
The sailing firre, the cypress deth to plaine." 
The leaves and the bark possess a glutinous 
matter which is turned to account in making bird¬ 
lime. There is also a bitter principle present that 
has been found to be efficacious in cases of inter¬ 
mittent fevers. This bitter principle has been 
called by Dr. Rosseau, of Paris, who experimented 
with it, Ilicine, and he found it to be of even more 
value in certain cases than Quinine. 
From the dried leaves of another species of Holly 
than the one common to this country, I. paraguay- 
ensis, of South America, come, the Mate Tea, which 
possesses the same principle, Theine, as the Teas of 
India, Ceylon, and China. Possibly we have here 
the key to the employment of decoctions of Holly by 
the priesthood of old Persia, for Tea made from the 
leaves of I. Aquifolium may not be so bad if one had 
the courage to acquire the taste,as has been done with 
decoctions from I. paraguayensis and Camellia Thea. 
The priests, too, would probably try to keep the 
knowledge of the cup which " cheered, but did not 
inebriate,” from their lay brethren. 
As a hedge plant the value of the Holly is too well 
known to need further mention. When well-looked 
after, Holly hedges not only fulfil the protective 
purposes for which they are planted, but they form 
exceedingly handsome decorative objects. 
Evelyn's Holly Hedge at Say's Court, referred to 
by Anne Pratt, must, indeed, have been a grand 
object. We are told that it was destroyed by the 
Czar of Russia during his temporary residence at 
Say's Court. This destruction brought out a stir¬ 
ring reproof from Bishop Mant, who says : — 
" And such was once thy Holly wall, 
Good Evelyn, thick, extended, tall ; 
Thy hands disposed the seedlings fair, 
They throve beneath thy fostering care, 
Four hundred feet in length they rose ; 
Thrice three they rose in height above. 
Glittering with arm’d and varnish’d leaves, 
Secure 'gainst weather, beasts, and thieves, 
Blushing, with native coral, red, 
Refreshment and delight they shed 
About thy path ; and still diffuse 
O’er thy wild path perennial hues." 
The largest Holly hedge of which I have been able 
to find a record was that of Tyningham, the seat of 
the Earl of Haddington. This hedge was 2,952 yds. 
in length, and varied from 10 ft. to 25 ft. in height, 
with a thickness at the base of from 9 ft. to 13 ft — 
truly a colossus. 
At no season of the year is the Holly unsightly, 
but in the months of autumn, winter, and early 
spring there is nothing that can rival it in beauty, 
As Southey says :— 
" And as when all the summer trees are seen 
So bright and green, 
The Holly-leaves their fadeless hue display 
Less bright than they ; 
But when the bare and wintry woods we see 
What then so cheerful to the Holly tree." 
May the Holly be the emblem of gladness and 
good cheer to all my readers for many Christmases 
yet to come.— A. S. Galt. 
Correspondence. 
Questions ashed by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page 
A nyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
"Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Iyy on an Oak Tree.— X .: The Ivy is not a true 
parasite, that is, it does not support itself from sub¬ 
stance taken from the object that gives it support. 
The so-called " aerial roots ’’ are not roots at all, but 
only contrivances whereby the plant climbs. Thus 
if the stem be cut through near the ground the 
whole of the plant above the cut will speedily die. 
Ivy does not injure the trees upon which it climbs 
by drawing food out of them, but it undoubtedly 
injures them in other ways, by depriving the trunk 
and branches of air—by muffling them up as it 
were. Again, the Ivy usually makes a large thick 
head which catches the wind, thus putting a greater 
strain on the trunk and roots than would otherwise 
be the case. 
Muscat Hamburgh Grape.— B. G. : The Muscat 
Hamburgh Grape has oval-shaped berries, and the 
colour may be described as dull purple. Many 
people prefer it to the ordinary Black Hamburgh. 
It may be grown in the same house, but is better for 
a mid-season than an early crop. 
Thermometer Gone Wrong — Amateur : It is im¬ 
possible to say what has been the exact cause of 
your thermometer going wrong. The only thing 
that we can suggest is for you to take it back to the 
maker or to the shop from which you bought it, and 
have it put to rights. 
Lettuces in Frames Damping.— Cog. : The 
reasons for your Lettuces damping off are probably 
several. You have the plants rather too close to¬ 
gether, and you have not given them sufficient air, 
whilst too much water at the root may also be some¬ 
what to blame. As long as the weather continues 
mild you must give plenty of air, for Lettuces do not 
like coddling. If it rains push the lights on, but 
tilt them up at the back so as to still admit the air. 
Tying Peaches. —December : It is certainly a mis¬ 
take to allow the branches to cross and re-cross each 
other. Many people do this, however, justifying 
themselves to themselves by saying that it is done in 
order to cover all the area. The whole of the space 
can be equally covered, however, by first of all 
regularly disposing the main branches, and then 
working in the small ones by the side of them. 
White zonal Pelargonium.—^ . B.C.: One of the 
best white zonal Pelargoniums for winter flowering 
is Niagara. Not only are both flowers and trusses 
large, but the plants are dwarf, sturdy, and very 
floriferous. 
Cypripedlum insigne.— Jas. T .: The flowers will 
certainly tend to exhaust the plant if they are kept 
on for too long. It will be wise, therefore, to cut 
some of them from time to time, so as to relieve the 
plant to some extent of the burden. A little weak 
farmyard manure will do good, but do not give it 
oitener than twice a week ; whilst the weather is 
damp, and the plant does not need so much water, 
once a week will be quite enough. 
Cupressus lawsoniana.— Hedge : Amongst Coni- 
ferae you cannot choose a better hedge plant than 
this, for its growth is rapid, and it soon develops 
into a thick close hedge. When the hedge is suffi¬ 
ciently tall you may head off the plants, and this 
will tend to increase their lateral development. If 
you plant now trees about 4 ft. in height, three or 
four years from now should see you with a close and 
well shaped screen. 
Forcing French Beans.— Fiet: The forcing of 
dwarf French Beans is very simple, and need not 
cause you any trouble. The great necessity is a 
house in which a night temperature of not less than 
55° can be maintained, if 58° so much the better. If 
you cannot give as much heat as this you will find 
the forcing of Beans a very slow process indeed. In 
such a temperature as we have mentioned germina¬ 
tion is rapid, and the plants soon reach the flowering 
stage. You may sow two Beans in a thumb pot, and 
when they have made two good leaves you may pot 
them off into 7-inch pots, putting about six plants in 
each. The soil should consist in bulk of good loam. 
