OAK LEAFMOLD 
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Ts is the story of a product that has done more 
than anything else to make the growing of Holly 
possible over almost all of the United States. Its 
use has exploded like an atom bomb the many and 
varied ‘‘you cannot grow it’ myths handed down 
to us through the ages. I learned about the use of 
Oak Leafmold not so much from books as from 
years of hard work in real dirt farming with Hollies. 
I have always been glad I first started to grow 
Holly and other wild plants as a hobby, not as a 
commercial venture, because I spent years of hard 
work and much money before I learned how to 
successfully handle them. The first plants I trans- 
planted 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 every farmer for miles around. There 
were no commercial fertilizers in those days, but 
manure, supplemented by ground bone from my 
father’s mill, helped make this part of New Jersey 
known far and wide as the cream of farm lands. 
The happiest days of my childhood were spent 
in this mill. As I grew up commercial fertilizers 
were developed and I helped mix by hand hun- 
dreds of tons. When my father died, he was pres- 
ident of a large fertilizer firm; my twin brother 
carries on in his place. 
FATHER’S FAITH IN FERTILIZERS 
My father believed in advertising and used much 
ground bone and later, commercial fertilizers, on 
the farm. The crops we grew helped no little to 
sell our fertilizers. My mother was in full accord 
with us. Few farm women could boast of such 
beautiful flowers around the yard and in the house. 
She always gave our fertilizer credit, but not fully 
