THE FLORISTS* MANUAL. 



173 





Areca Lutescens. ** 



the right summers. We never see such 

 short, sturdy, finely developed kentias 

 or latanias imported as those grown 

 here by some of our own firms, but not 

 by all. The latanias we see from Bel 

 gium are handsome in appearance, but 

 drawn, long leaf stalks, and are only 

 fit to put in a palm house and grow a 

 year to accustom them to the treatment 

 that we expect our palms to endure and 

 come up smiling. 



The general florist who buys his 

 young palms from some of the home 

 firms and wants them to retail or use 

 at once, as do all storekeepers who have 

 no greenhouse, and the very great ma 

 jority of greenhouse men as well, will 

 find out (if that is not already dis 

 covered) that there are palm growers 

 and palm growers, and a vast difference 

 there is in the quality of plants they 

 send out. In very large establishments, 

 where house after house is palms, they 

 are manufactured quickly, and quality 

 is entirely subservient to quantity. They 

 are stood very close together, kept very 

 warm summer and winter, altogether 

 inadequate ventilation is given, and the 

 shade is of the permanent kind; if not 

 kept on all the year, then at least nine 

 months of the twelve. The difference 

 between these palms and those grown 

 with plenty of room, abundance of 

 fresh air, and shade only from the 

 direct rays of the sun, is very marked. 

 The former are run up with long leaf 

 stalks, the growth is soft, and the color 



the past tUrty years. In this country 

 at least it would (please excuse the 

 simile) be not unlike the career of the 

 bicycle: At first rare, and, when seen, 

 stared at by multitudes. Soon those 

 that could afford them purchased one, 

 then as prices became more popular 

 the majority had one, or, for a variety, 

 two or three. Then, when the best 

 patterns or varieties came on the market 

 and manufacturers and growers turned 

 out so cheaply the best kinds, warranted 

 not to break at the forks or turn brown 

 on the tips, our errand boy takes home 

 to his washer-woman mother a Kentia 

 Belmoreana mounted on a $20 &quot;Rolling 

 Banger&quot; paid for on the dollar-a-week, 

 installment plan. 



Within a very few years some firms 

 are importing a useful size of kentia; 

 they are grown and we receive them in 

 small green wooden tubs. These tubs 

 are a vast improvement over the 

 ordinary pots, particularly so when you 

 have to use these palms in decorating. 

 The light wooden unbreakable tub will 

 appeal to you at once as having many 

 advantages* over the heavy, brittle pot. 

 The raising of palms in this country, 

 of the useful commercial kinds, is a 

 large part of the business of a few of 

 our largest firms. Formerly many 

 thousands were imported, particularly 

 kentias, but that is fast dropping off, 

 for prodigious quantities are now grown 

 here annually. Arecas are much better 

 grown here, and so I think are all use 

 ful species. We may have a colder 

 climate to contend with in winter, a 

 matter of trifling consequence in a 

 house or acre of palms, and surely with 

 proper cnre and management we havo 



Kentia Forsteriaoa. 



