December  27,  1900, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
579> 
just  before  Cbristmas,  and,  finding  out  the  owners  of  Holly,  to  offer 
them  a  price  for  all  that  can  be  cut.  There  are  also,  it  must  be 
admitted,  a  number  of  persons — also  to  be  described  as  enterprising — 
Oovent  Garden  :  it  is  frankly  admitted  that  in  this  particular  branch  of 
the  trade  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  theft.  The  same  statement 
applies  to  the  traflSo  in  Christmas  trees ;  a  proportion  of  the  young- 
Fig.  151.— hollies. 
1,  argentea  variegata  ;  2,  Golden  Queen  ;  3,  Milkmaid  ;  4,  Hedgehog  ;  5,  fructu-luteo  ;  6,  Hodginsi. 
who  likewise  go  into  the  country  on  the  look-out  for  Holly,  but  who  would 
scorn  to  offer  the  legitimate  owner  a  price  or  even  to  consult  him  at  all. 
On  this  subject  there  are  no  illusions  at  all  among  those  who  know 
Firs  which  are  sold  to  be  used  in  this  way  have  been  stolen 
by  night  from  the  plantations  where  they  were  growing,  hurried 
away  to  some  convenient  railway  station,  and  thence  conveyed 
