24 DECEMBER 1954, Page 16

Country Life

As I was going along the road yesterday I met a party of men and youths who had been off gathering holly. They had found some fine bushes somewhere, but how far they had travelled I could only guess. They looked tired and were very mud-spattered. Gathering foliage for Christmas decoration is, I think, becoming less commonly done than it was. So many people buy bundles of holly or a sprig or two of mistletoe and it is a great deal easier to get them from a dealer. Those who own land still suffer an annual trespass but I think it is declining because many of the woods that contained holly and mistletoe-bearing trees have been reduced or cut down completely.