
about growing things, told of different results with my 
natives. ‘The wife of the president of one of our large 
department stores came to me several times for help 
with her Hollies, Rhododendron, and Laurel. Finally, 
I went over to see the stock. A glance showed that 
these plants had had wonderful care, yet, while alive, 
they were not growing. Near them were most beautiful 
roses and rare shrubs and trees from many countries. A 
glance around the immense estate showed that nothing 
had been spared to make every plant and tree do its 
best. The lady had bought good stock of me and had 
taken home a reasonable quantity of Oak Leafmold and 
planted according to instructions. Naturally she felt 
disappointed and told me so plainly. After looking 
things over, I could only suggest rather weakly, that 
Hollies and most of our wild things do best if not 
cultivated or fussed with too much. 
In all my years I have only seen two women look 
“real mad.” One was Mary Pickford in ‘Taming of 
the Shrew” and the other, the lady I have mentioned. 
I afterwards learned that the gardener had mixed with 
the soil and Oak Leafmold when planting these 
natives, a large quantity of ground bone and commer- 
cial fertilizer. 
To all planters of Hollies, let me again emphasize 
that no lime, ground bone or chemical fertilizers be 
used in the soil. Also do not use aluminum sulphate, 
tannic acid or other chemicals. If you wish to sour the 
soil for Hollies (most soils around homes are too sweet) 
use an increased quantity of Oak Leafmold. The re- 
sults will amaze you, more so if you have some know]l- 
edge of fertilizers and know what little fertility is in 
Oak Leafmold according to analysis. 
I suspect that much of the good in Leafmold is due 
to its improving the mechanical or physical condition 
of the soil. Its greatest asset is that it works almost 
instantly. I have seen Hollies that have had Oak Leaf- 
mold put around their roots, darken in leaf in less than 
a week. 
Leafmold Differs from Peat Moss 
I cannot express it in technical terms, but the real 
value of Oak Leafmold comes from its being “alive.” 
We gather it from upland woods where it is from 4 to 
10 inches thick with the top leaves only a few years 
old while the bottom layers have remained for decades. 
The whole mass comes in varying degrees of decompo- 
sition. But regardless of how long it has remained in 
the woods, it has been impregnated day by day with 
light and air. Every bushel of Oak Leafmold that is 
gathered from the floor of the woods has in it thou- 

Oe a ae a a i i el 

