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cause they are “locked”. Lying for centuries with- 
out benefit of light or air, they develop a set con- 
dition that is very hard to break down. It is months 
after these are put in the ground before decomposi- 
tion, so necessary to make conditions right, occurs. 
When you get Oak Leafmold, it is alive with this 
helpful bacteria which releases nitrogen, phosphorus 
and potash over a long period so that it wears well 
and feeds plants for several years. Chemical fer- 
tilizers, minus this bacteria, give a “lift” to plants 
but often wear out just when the plant needs food 
most. 
LEAFMOLD IS NATURE’S OWN FERTILIZER 
Let’s forget the merits of chemical fertilizers 
versus Oak Leafmold a moment and ponder this 
fact — Nature grew Hollies with leafmold millions 
of years before man-made fertilizers, so why is it 
not logical to use Oak Leafmold rather than man’‘s 
imitation? All | do is to use more of it around the 
roots of Holly than is found in Nature. If | could 
get no more Oak Leafmold, | am afraid | would 
go out of the Holly business. 
On my Holly Farm, we are rooting many thovu- 
sands of Holly cuttings each year. These are placed 
in small pots filled with Oak Leafmold. As they 
grow, the plants are transferred to larger pots, then 
placed in Nature Packed wire baskets, and on into 
“wells” in our Holly orchard, where they mature 
into large specimens. From small pots to and in- 
cluding the “wells”, our Hollies grow in pure Oak 
Leafmold. : 
But there is a catch in the above procedure. 
Large Hollies are selling well, and | want to keep 
on growing a few hundred each year — yet in my 
Holly orchard are many holes actually dug and 
waiting for trees that are selling so fast they never 
find their way to the orchard. 
The larger specimen Hollies in our Holly orchard 
are growing in “wells” filled with Oak Leafmold 
as mentioned above. We do not cultivate but try 
to mow the weeds twice a year. During the fall 
and spring, we scatter over the roots of each Holly 
a scoop shovel full of a mixture of equal parts of 
tobacco (dust or crushed stems) and cottonseed 
meal. Because of considerable loss from mice, we 
are discontinuing the cottonseed meal and substi- 
tuting castor pomace. The latter is cheaper and mice 
really hate it. | 
Here is something that has often puzzled me. 
Folks buy Hollies, and find no fault whatsoever with 
the purchase price; then kick like everything over 
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