
OAK LEAFMOLD 
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Oak Leafmold is the best rooting medium in the 
world for Holly and most other natives. Hemlock, 
Magnolia, Rhododendron, Laurel, Azalea, Leucothoe, 
Blueberries, Arbutus and native rock plants and ferns 
all like Oak Leafmold. The use of it as suggested here 
for Holly, applies to these plants also. 
Seldom a day passes but someone asks of me, ‘‘What 
is the secret of your success with Holly?” There is no 
secret-—make conditions natural for Holly and it is 
not hard to grow. In fact, it is easier to keep alive 
than many of our so-called hardy evergreens. 
Holly (Ilex opaca) planted in Oak Leafmold will 
live and thrive in most of the Eastern United States. 
High altitude (in the Northern States) not latitude 
is the limiting factor. Hollies planted as stated here 
have gone through the record-breaking cold Winters 
of ’34 and ’35 and are now looking fine near Boston, 
Mass. ; Wiscasset, Me.; Keene, N. H.; Lake Winne- 
pesaukee, N. H., and hundreds of other places where 
most people think it impossible to grow Hollies. 
Cannot Be Tamed 
Remember, however, that Holly is wild; you cannot 
tame it. Our trouble with Holly has been that we have 
been trying to grow it as we grow other garden trees 
and plants. Holly and other natives are hardy enough 
but they are averse to most chemical fertilizers, clean 
cultivation and so forth. | 
I have always been glad I first started to grow Holly 
and other wild plants as a hobby, not as a commercial 
venture, as I spent years of hard work and much money 
before I learned how to successfully handle them. The 
first plants I transplanted were set out in our own 
woods, Father and mother would not be bothered with 
things such a little fellow wanted about the yard. 
There were more important flowers and trees. But 
some of those little trees, planted in such a crude way, 
are alive today, while hundreds of better, bigger plants 
on which I later spent much money and time, proved 
miserable failures. 
Born on a Farm 
I have lived all my life on the farm where I was 
born. My father was a good farmer, but his greatest 
interest in life was in fertilizers. During my early 
childhood his bone mill on the farm was known to 

