AUGDSX 31, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



tl 



^'Cultural Hints Month by Month" 

 and "Types and Varieties." At the 

 close he also finds that which, for some 

 mysterious reason, is often entirely 

 lacking in otherwise good books — a 

 well arranged index. 



The book is neatly bound in green 

 cloth and the type is large and plain. 

 The illustrations are instructive as well 

 as attractive, as may be inferred from 

 some of their titles. For instance, 

 there are pictures of "Buds and Dis- 

 budding," "Boot Cuttings," "Tak- 

 ing the Bud," "The Growth of the 

 Buds," "The Reflexed and Incurved 

 Types," etc. 



This, or any other book in the Gar- 

 den Library, may be obtained from 

 The Eeview at the publishers' price. 



["Vines and How to Grow Them," by William 

 •C. McC!ollom. Doubleday, Page & Co., New 

 York. Size, 6%x8 Inches; 315 pages; thirty -one 

 full-page halftone Illustrations. Price, net, $1.10; 

 postage, 10 cents.] 



An extended description of this book, 

 "Vines and How to Grow Them," 

 by William C. McCollom, is scarcely 

 necessary, since much that has just 

 been said about another volume in the 

 series is equally applicable, in a gen- 

 eral way, to this one. The style of 

 binding, printing and illustrating is 

 the same in both cases. This book, 

 like the other, is written by a prac- 

 tical gardener, who, besides under- 

 standing his subject, also understands 

 the use of words. Mr. McCollom has 

 an established reputation as a writer 

 for the horticultural press. 



The first few chapter headings, sug- 



festive of the entire contents of the 

 ook, are as follows: "Uses and 

 Habits of Vines," "When and How 

 to Plant," "Soil and Cultivation," 

 "Supports and Trellises," "Pruning 

 and Management," "Insects and Dis- 

 eases, " " Winter-killing and How to 

 Prevent It." The titles of some of 

 the illustrations are: "How Vines 

 Climb," "Before and After Prun- 

 ing," "When and When Not to 

 Prune," "The Pergola in Winter and 

 Summer," etc. The volume closes 

 with a list of "Vines for Special Pur- 

 poses," a "Selected List of Climb- 

 ing Eoses," a "Planting Table for 

 Vines," and an index. 



If these two handbooks are fair 

 samples of the volumes in the Garden 

 Library, the series as a whole is of 

 much practical value. For sale by 

 The Eeview at the publishers' price. 



HOME-SAVED CYCLAMEN SEED. 



In the fall of 1909 I bought some 

 quite expensive cyclamen seeds from a 

 European specialist and raised about 

 1,000 fine plants. This summer I saved 

 about a couple of thousand seeds from 

 the plants. Can I get as good cycla- 

 mens from seeds of my own saving as 

 the ones I bought from the specialist' 



H.H. 



Your home saved cyclamen will grow 

 and flower all right, but you will prob- 

 ably not find the quality as satis- 

 factory as from the choice English 

 and German imported strains, which 

 are all carefully hand-pollinated and 

 kept in batches of distinct colors to 

 keep the varieties and types true. 



C. W. 



Hartford, Conn. — Florist Peterson, at 

 the Whiting Greenhouses, says they 

 have a lovely sport from My Maryland, 

 which is being carefully watched. 



Rhapis Flabelliformis. 



SHAPIS FLABELLIFOBMIS. 



Oood for House Decoration. 



Ehapis flabelliformis, of which a 

 good picture is here presented, is by no 

 means a new palm, though not so com- 

 mon as the kentias and arecas have be- 

 come of late years. It was introduced 

 to Europe from its native home in 

 southern China more than 100 years 

 ago, or, to be exact, in the year 1774. 

 It is a fan-leaved palm, the segments 

 of the leaves being blunt, tind erose — 

 that is, having the appearance of hav- 

 ing been bitten off at the ends — and it 

 is not a rapid-growing plant. 



Owing in part to the last mentioned 

 characteristic, and also to the fact that 

 it is propagated chiefly by division, it 

 is not easy to work up a stock of this 

 palm. Consequently, in many estab- 

 lishments it has been set aside in favor 

 of species that may be grown and 

 propagated more rapidly. 



The Seeds are Scarce. 



Under cultivation this palm seldom 



soeds; hence its seeds are rarely offered 



in the market, one reason for this being 



found in the fact that some plants pro- 



duce only male lowers, others only 

 female, and occasionally plants are 

 found bearing perfect flowers from 

 which fertile seeds result. 



A common name for this palm is the 

 ground rattan, and it is said that the 

 slender, cane-like stems are used com- 

 mercially in China and Japan, and are 

 sometimes exported. 



The culture of Ehapis flabelliformis 

 presents no special difficulty and it will 

 flourish under the same treatment as 

 is ordinarily given to kentias, though 

 enduring a lower temperature than the 

 kentias without injury, and as its foli- 

 age is tough and hard, it is really an 

 excellent palm for house decoration. 



Division of the plants should be per- 

 formed in the spring or early summer, 

 being careful to retain as much root as 

 possible with the divisions, and the 

 divided plants should be kept in a 

 rather close atmosphere, syringed 

 freely, and protected from the sun until 

 they become established. 



There is also a variegated form of 

 this palm, the leaves of which are 

 striped with yellow, but it is somewhat 

 weaker in growth than the type, and 

 of less value. W. H. T. 



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