ing to outdo their neighbors, a great many people 
will plant as I have outlined in this discussion, but 
just cannot resist adding an unreasonable quantity 
of Vigoro, sulphate of ammonia or some other con- 
centrated type of fertilizer. Be careful, you may 
kill your tree with too much kindness. ~ 
7. In Order to Prevent the too 
Rapid Evaporation of Mois- 
ture Should I Strip the 
Leaves from My Holly 
When I Plant? 
No. Stripping the leaves does definite harm. It 
is a disagreeable job at best, injures the bark of 
the Holly and harms the ends of the twigs. The 
bark of the Holly is little more than tender skin 
and care should always be taken not to harm it. 
Holly in the wild would be injured far less if 
vandals at Christmas would cut cleanly instead of 
breaking or tearing away the branches. Do not for- 
get that at planting time a broken or split root 
should be cut cleanly, also. ‘This is more important 
than many people realize. 
Most nursery-grown Holly with a good, heavy 
root system and a compact top needs no thought 
about taking off the leaves. If you feel that you 
must follow this practice, just use pruning shears 
and cut the twigs back a few inches. 
Many large trees can be helped by using a spray 
when they are moved. Some years ago a chemist 
for a large spray material firm worked weeks for 
me to perfect a paraffine emulsion for this purpose. 
The result was a non-injurious, cheap, easy-to-use 
material that looks like milk and does a fine job. 
I believe it should be used much more extensively. 
Its one fault seems to be that the sprayed tree looks 
white for weeks and so hurts the sale for me. I use 
it a lot when transplanting. 
8S. What Is the Best Fertilizer 
for Holly? 
If plenty of leafmold is used, very little fertilizer 
is needed. A double handful of cottonseed meal put 
annually around each small tree—put three or four 
times as much around a six to eight-foot tree and a 
bucketful around a large tree—will make the leaves 
dark green and help its appearance. Such a Holly 
will bear more berries that one that is stunted or 
grows very slowly. Cottonseed meal is safe—you 
may use any quantity you wish. 
