2442 



PALM 



PALM 



naturally produced outdoors. Repotting should be done 

 during the spring and summer months, preferably, 

 there being comparatively little root-action on the 

 part of most palms between November 1 and March 1. 

 Give only moderate-sized shifts, that is, use pots only 

 1 or 2 inches larger, and always ram the soil firmly. 



Florists especially must understand the summer 

 treatment of decorative palms. The usual weather of 

 midsummer, which includes not only high temperature, 

 but also fairly high humidity, is a help for the grower of 

 palms, for such conditions do much to promote the 

 growth of the stock, provided that watering, syringing, 

 and proper atten- 

 tion to ventilation 

 be given. A little 

 ventilation at 

 night, in addition 

 to fairly liberal 

 airing during the 

 day, tends to pre- 

 vent an over- 

 accumulation of 

 moisture on the 

 foliage, and also 

 has an influence 

 toward the pre- 

 vention of fungoid 

 growths on or 



about the plants, for in houses so continually" 

 warm and moist as is the average palm-house, 

 there is much encouragement for fungus on 

 the woodwork of the benches and about the 

 plants. 



. A sprinkling of slaked lime under the 

 benches is also a help to the atmosphere and 

 discourages snails to some extent, the latter 

 pest being sometimes very troublesome, 

 especially on the young growths of kentias. 

 Two of the worst periods for the reproduc- 

 tion of scale insects are in the months of May 

 and September, and if these pests can be 

 kept down at those periods, there will be 

 much less trouble in the remainder of the 

 year. 



Those who grow palms in quantity have 

 to depend upon dips and spraying with vari- 

 ous insecticides, from the fact that it is 

 practically impossible to give the time to 

 each plant that may be afforded by those who 

 carry only a few dozens of palms in stock, but 

 in either case most of the work of this charac- 

 ter is likely to be done hi the 

 summer months, when there may 

 be a little more time devoted to 

 such work than can be spared 

 in the busier seasons of spring 

 and fall. This fact probably 

 accounts for some of the insect 

 tribulations to which the grower 

 is exposed, as he is seldom able 

 to find time to fight insects at 

 the time of the spring rush, and 

 by this means new colonies are 

 distributed before the danger is 

 appreciated. 



Kentias and cocos are undoubtedly the palms for 

 the million at this stage of the florists' art in America, 

 and the necessities of these admirable plants are well 

 understood. Seaforthias and ptychospermas were 

 rather more common to the trade fifteen to twenty 

 years ago than they are now, and were used for decora- 

 tive work before the kentias absorbed so much atten- 

 tion. Instead of using seaforthias for decorating, per- 

 sons are adding them to the outdoor garden in those 

 parts of the South where palms add so greatly to the 

 permanent effect in the outdoor planting. 



2736. Germination of 

 Howea Belmoreana. 



The common Phoenix canariensis and other strong- 

 growing members of that subfamily are also frequently 

 in demand for outdoor use, while the dwarf date, 

 Phoenix Roebelenii, continues to be in demand for house 

 decoration, under which condition it is eminently satis- 

 factory; it has found further usefulness even in small 

 sizes, in being used to some extent for the centers of 

 fern-pans. Livistona rotundifolia is one of the most 

 charming of dwarf palms, but is easily spoiled by insects, 

 requiring constant vigilance on that account, while a 

 comparatively high temperature and moist atmosphere 

 are also essential to its welfare. w jj TAPLIN. 



L.'H.'B. 



N. TAYLOR.| 

 Palms in California. 



Palms grown in the open 

 in California gardens do not 

 exceed about twenty-six 

 genera, and numbering about 

 eighty species. In this account 

 may be found the species 

 growing in the gardens of 

 Los Angeles and vicinity, and 

 throughout southern Cali- 

 / fornia in limited numbers 



from San Diego to Santa 



Barbara. Occasional plants of species not mentioned are 

 found in some old gardens, but are not so plentiful as 

 to be considered in a general list of the hardy palms. A 

 complete list of palms grown somewhere in southern 

 California is given by Franceschi as follows : Archonto- 

 phcenix, 2 species; Hedyscepe, 1; Rhopalostylis, 2; 

 Clinostigma, 1; Bacularia, 1; Howea, 2; Chamsedorea, 

 10; Gaussia, 1; Phcenix, 10; Sabal, 10; Washingtonia, 

 3; Chamserops, 1; Rhapidophyllum, 1; Serenoa, 2; 

 Brahea, 3; Erythea, 4; Pritchardia, 2; Livistona, 6; 

 Trachycarpus, 2; Rhapis, 2; Thrinax, 2; Trithrinax, 2; 

 Copernicia, 1; Acrocomia, 1; Cocos, 10; Jubsea, 1. 



In enumerating the prevailing garden palms, they 

 are placed as to their importance, or rather as to their 

 numerical strength in California. The native fan-palms, 

 the washingtonias, natives of San Bernardino and San 

 Diego counties, have been most extensively planted, 

 and may be found everywhere, serving, in some 

 instances, a variety of purposes. (Fig. 2737.) In grow- 

 ing this palm, water is of the first importance. When 

 planted along a street, those adjoining vacant lots often 

 remain nearly at a standstill, except in case of an 

 unusually wet winter, while those along the cultivated 

 lots or lawns grow faster than any other palm. When 

 one in its native habitat blows over by the force of the 

 desert winds, the hole left by the roots and stump 

 invariably fills with water. Washingtonias are hardy 

 600 miles north of Los Angeles. It may be well to state 

 that hardiness in palms is principally a question of size, 

 the larger ones passing through the most severe winter 

 unharmed, while the small ones may perish. So, also, 

 some palms supposed to be very tender need protec- 

 tion from sun more than from frost. This is particu- 

 larly the case with the so-called kentias and rhapis. A 

 certain howea (or Kentia Forsteriana) is protected only 

 by a large overhanging branch of a sycamore, which is 

 of course leafless in cold weather, yet it has reached a 

 height of 12 feet, with a diameter at base of 12 inches, 

 and it has never been injured by frost, yet water 

 hydrants 10 feet away have been frozen so hard as to 

 burst them. In Los Angeles is a kentia 15 feet high, 

 growing on the north side of a house, protected from 

 sun alone, being 20 feet from the building, where for 

 several winters the ground nearby has frozen to the 

 depth of 1 inch. This is in the bottom-lands, the coldest 

 part of the city. 



Phoenix dactylifera, although not so ornamental as 

 others of the genus, was extensively planted in early 



