PAL INI -CULTURE 



order to keep any plant in a healthy condition 

 it must have plenty of light, though sunshine 

 is not necessary to the health of such plants as 

 the Palm. If a plant is kept for some time in 

 a shady place it not only suffers from lack of 

 light, but its soil becomes sour because evapor- 

 ation of moisture does not take place as rap- 

 idly as it ought to. A sour soil soon brings 

 on a diseased condition of the entire root-sys- 

 tem. Therefore never allow your Palms to 

 remain away from a good, strong light for more 

 than a day or two at a time. As soon as they 

 have done decorative duty at some social func- 

 tion remove them to a place where they will 

 get the benefit of the light they need. 



"I suppose my Palm needs repotting. Its 

 roots lift the plant above the soil. How large 

 a pot ought it to have ?" 



If your plant seems healthy, let it alone. 

 Much harm is done by repotting when repot- 

 ting is unnecessary. The fact that a plant is 

 lifted above the soil by its roots does not indi- 

 cate the need of more root-room. It is char- 

 acteristic of the plant to grow in that way. So 

 long as it keeps making two or three new leaves 

 yearly, and these are as good as its earlier ones, 

 do not think of shifting it. The fact is, the 



197 



