July 3, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



317 



The soil is tliiis left standing in a sharp ridge between each 

 row of plants. After setting up these ridges between each 

 row the boards are laid aside and the men "handle" the 

 celery. Beginning at the middle of the bed each man grasps 

 a plant with his left hand, holding the foliage erect, while with 

 his right he pulls down the ridge of earth and packs it tightly 

 around it. After the whole bed has been "handled" in this 

 manner the boards are again used and fresh ridges are set up 

 between the rows, so that the plants stand in little trenches 

 and are drawn up more erect. As the plants get above the 

 ridges and are inclined to spread the earth is again pulled 

 down around them and another set of ridges set up. As the 

 season gets cooler the earthing is continued as fast as the tops 

 of the plants get above the ridges, care being taken at the same 

 time to carry up a bank of earth a foot thick on each side of 

 the bed. When hard freezing is evidently at hand, say late in 

 November northward, and in mid December in Virginia, the 

 entire bed is co\'ered with a tliick layer of earth rounded up 

 so as to shed the rain. Forest leaves are then banked thickly 

 over all, and corn-stalks or bean-poles laid on to keep them 

 from blowing off. At the north a temporary board roof over 

 the bed, packed underneath with leaves or straw, I should 

 suppose would exclude frost. Having the bed covered in any 

 convenient way, it is easy to get at it in winter, and the labor 



Palms is good, fresh seed, and this, in the case of some spe- 

 cies, is difficult to procure, on account of the long ocean voy- 

 age, during which the seeds invarialjly lose much of their 

 vitality unless very carefully packed. It will be found that 

 some species suffer much more than others from this cause. 

 Kentia Balinoreaiia, for example, apparently, decays much 

 more rapidly, than Kentia Forsteriana when packed in pre- 

 cisely the same manner and sent at the same- time. 



The seed of that most useful Palm, Areca hitescens, though 

 easy to germinate, does not keep well, and, consequently, it 

 should l)e sown as soon as possible after its arrival, and if it is 

 fresh it will germinate in three or four weeks, and may be pot- 

 ted off at the end of three months. 



Among the Palms in general use probalily the easiest and 

 quickest to germinate is Lhnsionia Chinensis (or, as more gen- 

 erally known, Latania Borboiiica). Seeds of tliis species, under 

 favorable conditions, germinate in about two weeks after 

 planting, and are ready to pot off in two months' time. 



Cocos Weddelliana is one of the easiest of its family to raise 

 from seed, though not always making so good progress after 

 the tirst potting, owing to the fact that the long, stiff tap-root, 

 which is made during the first growth of the seedling, is very 

 brittle, and is, in consequence, frequently broken or otherwise 

 injured in potting. This gives the young plant a severe check ; 



Fii^. 117. — Spir;ea Van Houttei. — See pat^e 316. 



is much lighter than earthing up single rows and then lifting 

 and storing the plants. 



Celery should be set in the beds early in July for late fall use, 

 and from the middle of July to the middle of August for 

 winter and spring use. That which is intended to keep during' 

 winter should not have any earthing beyond the first handling 

 until the last of October. White Plume Celery is especially 

 adapted to bed-culture, but the Sandringham and Golden 

 Heart are our favorites. 

 Crozet, Va. W. F. Masscy. 



Seedling Palms. 



'T'HE greatly increased use of Palms for house decoration 

 ■*■ and also for filling conservatories, is being met by a cor- 

 responding increase in the number of seedling Palms raised 

 from year to year in the establishments of many of the leading 

 florists. That this branch of the business may be overdone 

 in the near future is an opinion freely expressed by some 

 florists, but as the public knowledge of the great utility of 

 these plants becomes more general, it may reasonably be ex- 

 pected that the demand for well-grown plants will cjuite equal 

 the supply for some years to come. 



It is not, however, to the commercial side of Palm-growing 

 that I propose to call attention, biit rather to give some gen- 

 eral remarks in regard to their culture. 



The first requisite to success in the raising of seedling 



and, if accompanied with a slight excess of water, such an 

 injury often causes the death of the seedling. 



The Kentias are rather slower in germinating, and some- 

 times take from six to eight months for the operation, and 

 besides this it is seldom that more than fifty f)er cent, of the 

 seeds prove good. This fact, coupled with that of the com- 

 paratively slow growth of the young plants, undoubtedly has 

 much to do with the high prices at which good plants of this 

 species are sold. 



The soil for Palm-seeds should be rather lighter in compo- 

 sition than that in which established plants are grown, and 

 may consist of equal portions of peat and light loam, with 

 sand enough to make the mixture open and easy to drain, the 

 latter point being worthy of attention, for when the soil is 

 allowed to become too wet many of the seeds are sure to rot. 



The seeds may be planted in either pots, pans or wooden 

 boxes, an objection to the latter being their liability to breed 

 fungus, the earthenware vessels being therefore found the 

 most satisfactory, and for convenience four to six inch pots are 

 preferable. As a steady bottom-heat is essential for the rapid 

 germination of Palm-seeds, the pots containing them should 

 I)e placed in the propagating house or some similar structure, 

 and plunged in cocoa-fibre or coal-ashes, the cocoa-fibre being 

 the better conductor of heat of the two, and also cleaner to 

 handle. 



Care should be given to watering, to keep the soil damp 

 without making it sodden, until the seedlings have developed 



