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THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



get started in their new surroundings. 

 Young palms for the first few months 

 take up little room, as they can stand 

 close together, and I should have added 

 that the seed can be sown very thickly, 

 as the young growths go straight up and 

 do not interfere with each other at all 

 before time to pot. 



For the first year young palms will 

 grow slowly if kept in a shaded house 

 without fire heat during summer, for 

 these houses get very dull and cool. 

 The cool nights lower the temperature 

 and the heavy shade prevents the sun 

 from raising it in the daytime. A 

 hotbed with the sash shaded will bring 

 them along fast in the summer months, 

 but I would prefer a little fire heat in 

 the palm house every night in the year. 

 Having a few palms and orchids that I 

 wished to treat properly this summer I 

 have never been a night without fire 

 heat, and I am sure it pays. This is 



Shading. 



In this place I might say what 1 

 should have said sooner, a few words 

 about shading. I believe Mr. W. K. 

 Harris tried French plate glass, and 

 with clear glass the sun did not burn 

 the palms. We are not likely to adopt 

 that quality of glass, as it is too ex 

 pensive. Ordinary window glass is all 

 we can afford at present. Our double 

 thick glass which is commonly used 

 will burn our palms and some shade 

 is necessary. I should really think 

 that with those firms which make a spe 

 cialty of palms by the tens of thou 

 sands that some portable or adjusta 

 ble shading could be used; perhaps it 

 is by some. We all know the great 

 advantages of it. But if it can t be 

 used then be careful and don t put on 

 too heavy a coat of paint early in the 

 season. A very thin coat of naphtha 



Kentia Dumoineana. 



not forcing them because we also have 

 the ventilators up. It is giving them 

 only a genial heat and good circulation 

 of air. Young palms that are expected 

 to grow should have fire heat every night 

 in the year and ventilation too. Not 

 as I have seen in some plant manu 

 facturing establishments, fire heat with 

 ventilators shut, 75 degrees outside and 

 110 degrees inside. 



and white lead will do, and thicker can 

 be added in May. 



I often think we are very careless 

 about leaving our summer shade on 

 till late in the fall. If storms have not 

 washed it off you will fee frequently 

 the glass very opaque till early No 

 vember. Now, did you ever think how 

 the first of November corresponded 

 for strength of sun with the spring 



days? The sun on November 1 would 

 be the same as it would February 

 10. Who would think of shading on 

 the latter date? And then again the 

 plants are better prepared to endure 

 the sun s rays in autumn than in spring. 

 So early in September brush or scrub 

 off part of your shading, and by end of 

 the month have it all off, particularly 

 over your palms, and I can t think of 

 anything that then -needs shade unless 

 it be orchids in bloom or your cutting 

 bed. 



Varieties. 



To attempt to give a long list of 

 palms is quite unnecessary. There are 

 so many genera and species that even 

 encyclopedias don t attempt to name 

 them. The commercial kinds are rather 

 limited and familiar to most of my 

 readers, but how few these are when you 

 consider the hundreds of species of this 

 noble family, many of which are worthy 

 a place in any collection. In mention 

 ing some of the leading palms it is not 

 easy to decide which to place first, for 

 the graceful and finest decorative palm 

 is not always the hardiest or best house 

 plant, the latter a most important ques 

 tion with us. Nearly every florist has 

 had some experience with a few palms 

 and has decided for himself which suits 

 him or his trade best. 



The names I have used are those by 

 which we familiarly know them, and it 

 would be little use to call Latania Bor- 

 bonica Livistona Chinensis, for our 

 customers know it as latania and they 

 don t care about a lesson in long, 

 crooked names. Call it the Chinese fan 

 palm and they would remember it. Peo 

 ple who don t know Begonia Eex by 

 name know it very well as the beef 

 steak geranium. That must have 

 originated in the packing house district 

 of Chicago, but it s about as elegant as 

 that invented by an ex-horse-car driver, 

 a young Irishman whom I set to moving 

 some begonias, and in an hour or so he 

 informed me he had &quot;got through with 

 the big-onions.&quot; 



The leading commercial palms are 

 Kentia Belmoreana and K. Forsteriana. 

 These well-known palms are deservedly 

 the most popular of all. Quick growing, 

 splendid plants for the house, beautiful 

 either when one foot high or twenty 

 feet. Belmoreana is dwarfer and more 

 compact than Forsteriana and has grace 

 ful recurved leaves when well grown. 

 This plant with light and room to spread 

 is the very perfection of form. For 

 steriana is more erect, but similar in all 

 other respects, and makes a fine palm 

 for large decorations. Both endure the 

 extremes of temperature, but no frost, 

 and all other unfavorable conditions 

 better than any other palms, the phrenix 

 alone excepted. Other species not so 

 valuable commercially, but making fine 

 specimens are, K. Baueri, . Canter- 

 buryana, K. Lindenii, K. McArthurii, 

 K. Mooreana, K. Wendlandiana. 



Areca lutescens ; this magnificent palm 

 is unrivalled as a decorative plant. It 

 has bright, shining golden steins, with 

 feathery and most graceful leaves. It 

 prows quickly and soon makes plants of 



