FEBRUARY 3. I.SSIS. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



427 



Livistona Hoogendorpii. 



tioned species, but this is a rather in- 

 definite characteristic to judge by, from 

 the fact that the color of foliage de- 

 pends so much upon the conditions un- 

 der which the plant is cultivated. 



The leaves of Livistona Hoogendor- 

 pii are borne on stout stems that are 

 usually brownish in color, and sur- 

 rounded at the base with brownish red 

 fibre, the edges of the stems being also 

 armed with strong spines. The blade 

 of the leaf is much divided into narrow 

 segments, these being, cleft at the tips 

 and pendant, and the general outline 

 of the leaf is circular. 



This species is a warm house palm. 

 being a native of the Indian Archipel- 

 ago, and will flourish under similar 

 treatment to Areca lutescens, for ex- 

 ample, in a house having a night tem- 

 perature of 65 degrees, a moist atmos- 

 phere and light shading, and should be 

 firmly potted in light, rich loam, or it 

 the soil is naturally heavy the addi- 

 tion of about one-fourth part of peat 

 may prove beneficial. 



Though in cultivation for over 

 twenty years, L. Hoogendorpii has not 

 become very common, and in fact is 



seldom met with in the trade in this 

 country at least, seed of this species be- 

 ing seldom offered here in sufficient 

 quantity to have much effect in the 

 trade. It is, however, a valuable spe- 

 cies, though possibly not equal to so 

 much exposure as its well known con- 

 gener, L. chinesis, but the endurance 

 of a palm depending greatly on the 

 method of its culture, it would be un- 

 fair to condemn this or any other spe- 

 cies without a more complete test. 

 W. H. TAPLIN. 



THE STORY OF AN EMIGRANT 

 FLORIST. 



IV. 



To the right and left of the Victoria 

 house and in front of a long range of 

 houses were flower gardens laid out in 

 formal style; geometrical figures with 

 gravel walks between and edged with 

 the little box edging, not allowed to 

 grow 18 inches high, as it is usually 

 seen in this country, but kept closely 

 cropped with the shears, and looking 



as trim and uniform in size as the gilt 

 moulding round a picture. It's no use, 

 however, enlarging on box edging. The 

 gardens where it was appropriate are 

 no longer made. It gets killed at least 

 by our northern winters, and the "lay- 

 ing" of it is a lost art. The American 

 gardener, unless he is imported, knows 

 nothing abmit laying box edging, and 

 only a few of those imported ever 

 learned to do it skillfully. 



The north side of the Victoria house 

 connected with the main range of 

 houses, in the center of which stood 

 the big "stove." Stove is so universally 

 used as applied to a hot-house that in 

 Europe it is correct. We all know, or 

 at least those who have left their na- 

 tive village, that buildings which in 

 childhood looked castles would on re- 

 turning home, after a few years' so- 

 journ in a big city, look but cabins; and 

 unless you have thought enough to re- 

 alize this, you will have too exalted an 

 opinion of the height of trees you 

 climbed for the magpie's nest, the 

 width of the field you threw a cricket 

 ball across, or the size of the village 

 church. All things are high or low, 

 long or short, light or dark, good or 

 bad, merely by comparison. The dull 

 light by which Milton wrote Paradise 

 Lost was light; by the side of electric- 

 ity it is darkness. Chichester cathedral 

 was very tall (274 feet) ; by the side of 

 the Cathedral of Cologne it is short. 



So this big stove was after all not 

 so large. But for those days it was a 

 good size; perhaps SO feet long, 50 feet 

 wide and about 30 feet high. In that 

 old stove was a varied and truly trop- 

 ical collection, besides a fine collection 

 of orchids, nepenthes, hot-house ferns, 

 particularly the beautiful gleichenias; 

 there was the usual collection of cro- 

 tons, marantas, etc. Sitting on the top 

 of a step ladder and cleaning the leaves 

 of a seven or eight-foot croton with 

 the aid of soft soap and a sponge, was 

 often the peaceful occupation of the 

 younger workmen. There were speci- 

 mens of old Maranta Zebrina, I am 

 sure four or five feet across. About 

 ISoO a very novel little plant was 

 brought down from London. It had 

 two leaves, and as the plant cost two 

 guineas ($10), it was five dollars a 

 leaf. It was only Begonia Rex, which 

 we now sell in 4-inch pots for 15 cents 

 each. 



What the ordinary lad would most 

 vividly remember is what there was in 

 the house "good to eat," and in tropical 

 fruits it was rich. Beside the dwarf 

 banana, Musa Cavendishii, there was 

 always growing with yearly a ripe 

 bunch, Musa Sapientum, the fruit of 

 which is superior to any. The bunch 

 weighs often 80 pounds and the plant 

 grows 20 to 25 feet, the leaf being 8 to 

 10 feet long. The following incident 

 will show that a liberal education and 

 refinement do not always inject uni- 

 versal knowledge. The wife of the rec- 

 tor of the parish, a beautiful and ac- 

 complished converted Jewess, sent one 

 day a sweet note to our father asking 



