ORNAMENTAL PALMS 243 



Even where the seeds are planted in rows, 

 with the expectation of producing colonnades of 

 palms, along roadsides or for borders, the palms 

 may be grown from the seed without danger that 

 they will vary sufficiently to interefere with the 

 symmetry of the row, provided the seed are 

 gathered from the same tree, or at any rate have 

 come from the same general stock. 



If, however, the seed be imported from dif- 

 ferent regions, there is probability of variation 

 even among trees of the same species. 



The usual method, in California, is to germi- 

 nate the seed in a hothouse, growing the young 

 plants in pots at first, and then removing them 

 to boxes that they may be more readily trans- 

 planted, as they make hard, slender, wiry roots. 

 They are as easily grown as kernels of corn, 

 though requiring much longer periods of time. 

 Occasionally, however, when quite small, they 

 are planted in nursery rows, and it is sometimes 

 desirable and safe to transplant them after they 

 have obtained a growth of twenty or thirty feet 

 in height, and a diameter of trunk of one or 

 two feet. 



In such a case, it is best to cut around the 

 roots of the tree some time before removal, 

 making a ball of earth that is to be removed with 

 the tree. This treatment induces the palm to 



