KENTIA 



415 



KENTIA 



The Kentias are the most useful of all the palms for the florist. 

 In the case of the retail grower, a good stock of them will always 

 yield a handsome dividend and no matter what you have to pay for 

 well grown specimens, they are bound to prove a good investment. 

 Give them a warm house with sufficient shade on the roof to prevent 

 burning the leaves, and keep the soil in the pots as well as the 

 atmosphere in the house moist at all times, and the plants will keep 

 on growing into money. 



There is one good thing about the shortage of these plants and 

 their higher price: it leads us to take better care of them. When 

 it was possible to import them at comparatively low cost, they were 

 slaughtered here just for the reason that they were able to stand a 

 lot of abuse. 



Every florist can make use of Kentias (whether Belmoreana or 

 Forsteriana) all the 

 way from those in 2-in. 

 pots for the center of 

 fern dishes, on up to 

 extra-large specimens 

 for decorative purposes. 

 Plants in 5-in. and 6-in. 

 pots are the best for 

 counter trade. 



You should always 

 have some nice plants 

 to offer around the 

 holidays, for many 

 people will prefer them 

 to flowering stock, look- 

 ing upon them as more 

 lasting. I have always 

 claimed that as long as 

 you have a stock of 

 good palms and ferns 

 on hand, you are never 

 sold out around the 

 holidays. And what is 

 left over of such plants 

 forms a mighty fine 

 asset later on. 



When you purchase 

 Kentias, you are not 

 purchasing perishable 



Fig. 193. KENTIA BELMOREANA. The larger 

 Kentias become, the more stately and graceful 

 their leaves and general appearance. However, 

 if you want a palm for an indoor or outdoor window 

 box, a 3-in. or 4-in. K. Belmoreana will help the 

 effect and prove as hardy as the ferns, Ficus or 

 Pandanus used with it if not hardier 



