January, 1908 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



287 



Construction of the concrete tank shown on the right: 



Dig the hole and make frame A of wood; fill with concrete 

 and erect rough sides ; B and C cleated by D. The whole 

 is braced by E. Inner lining and braces are removed later 



winter. Provision should be made for this. 

 Both outlet and drain may be provided as 

 follows: Lead a large (four or six inch) pipe 

 from the deepest part of the pond to some 

 lower outlet — sewer or stream. In the pond 

 attach an elbow joint so as to let the pipe turn 

 vertically upward. Screw into the joint a 

 piece of pipe just long enough to reach up to 

 the desired water level. Now, when the 

 tank is full, any overflow may go down the 

 pipe and out. To empty the pond, it is only 



necessary to unscrew the upright piece from 

 the elbow. The outlet should in any case 

 be covered with a wire net to prevent clogging 

 of the drain, to retain fish, and to keep float- 

 ing plants from being lost. 



Should the regular outlet be over a water- 

 fall or dam, a large pipe may be laid in the 

 lower part of this wall. A wooden plug at 

 its inner end will close it on ordinary occa- 

 sions, and can be removed when the pond 

 is to be emptied. From small ponds the 

 water can be dipped or siphoned out. 



Where a natural pond is subject to a sud- 

 den increase in water volume, a water gate 

 connected with an open ditch or culvert of 

 sufficient size to divert the additional column 

 of water must be built to obviate damage 

 from floods. 



If more than one pond is projected, connect 

 them with each other by drains, making each 

 a little lower than the preceding. With such 

 an arrangement, water can be supplied from 

 a fountain in the first pond, which may be 

 entirely ornamental. The sun's rays heat 

 the water drops in falling and, since it is 

 chiefly the surface water which is carried off, 



This concrete tanK 4x8 ft., built as shown in detail 

 opposite, cost $11.28 



the water in the last pond will have the high- 

 est temperature. This pond can then be 

 selected for the growing of tender or heat- 

 loving tropical nymphasas, etc. Even the 

 giant Victoria Cruziana does well in such 

 an unheated pond in St. Louis, for example, 

 but in more northern regions, some means 

 of artificial heating would have to be installed 

 to help out. 



Nine Iron-clad Palms for the Window Garden-By p. t. Barnes, ?:r k 



THE BEST ALL-ROUND DECORATIVE FOLIAGE PLANTS THAT WILL SUCCESSFULLY WITHSTAND FOR 

 LONG PERIODS THE VARIABLE TEMPERATURE, DUST AND GAS OF THE ORDINARY LIVING-ROOM 



AMONG the best all-around house plants 

 of a purely decorative nature are the palms. 

 In the sizes best adapted for house culture, 

 the stem is short but from it arises a cluster 

 of long, slender, arching leaves which are 

 bold and massive yet at the same time light 

 and airy. One great advantage they have 

 over most plants is that they do not need 

 a large amount of direct sunlight; in fact, 

 the light of a north window is sufficient. 

 If for purposes of decoration you wish to 

 put them in a dark corner of the room or 

 in a hall, they can stay there three or four 

 days without being injured, but they must 

 then be put back in the light to recuperate, 

 for no green plant can live long without light. 



THE CONFUSION OF YOUTH 



It is really very hard to give a good descrip- 

 tion of each individual palm, because many 

 of them look so much alike. This is 

 particularly true when in the young state; 

 in most of them, the seed leaves have no 

 distinguishing characteristics whatever, the 

 characteristic leaves not being developed 

 until the plants are nearly a year old. Even 

 in some of the older plants there is not much 

 difference. For instance, until I became 

 fairly well acquainted with palms, I was 

 continually confusing the areca with the 

 Kentia and Seaforthia. Some hundreds of 

 species make up the list of palms, and there 

 would be endless confusion and disappoint- 

 ment were the amateur to attempt their 

 cultivation in the house. The only ones to 

 be considered are the following: 



The best two for house culture are the 

 curly palm (Howea Belmoreana) and the 



thatch leaf palm {Howea Forsteriana). They 

 are known throughout the trade, however, 

 as Kentia Belmoreana and K. Forsteriana. 

 They might be identified in popular terms 

 as the erect Kentia and the spreading Kentia. 

 They are very much alike, but Belmoreana 

 can readily be told from Forsteriana by 

 the more upright leaflets; those of Forste- 

 riana have a decidedly drooping tendency. 

 Moreover, Belmoreana has a dwarfer, more 

 spreading habit than Forsteriana, while the 

 latter is a stronger grower and has broader 

 foliage. As ordinarily seen in the florists' 

 shops, a Kentia in a 6-inch pot is two to 

 two and one-half feet high and has half a 

 dozen leaves, two-thirds of the leaf consist- 

 ing of a long, slender, gradually tapering, 

 arching stem surmounted by many broad, 

 dark green leaflets set in two rows. Both 

 these palms will succeed where no other 

 palms can be grown. 



THE POPULAR FAVORITE 



Probably the Chinese fan palm (Livistona 

 Chinensis, but usually spoken of in the trade 

 as Latania Borbonica) is the most popular 

 of house palms, and, to my eye, certainly 

 the most beautiful. It does not grow as tall 

 as the Kentia but is much broader. In this 

 palm the leaf stem is as long as the leaf 

 and, for more than half its length its edges 

 are covered with short, stout, sharp spines. 

 The leaf is a foot or more in diameter, the 

 outer edge being divided into long narrow 

 segments which droop. The foliage is a 

 deep, rich green in color and presents a more 

 massive appearance than that of any other 

 palm. This will succeed in any room where 



the temperature does not go below 45 ° at 

 night. 



I know of one specimen of this which was 

 grown for the last ten years in a north window 

 during the winter and on the porch in the 

 summer. The owner secured it from a 

 florist as a small plant in a 6-inch pot and was 

 so successful in the management that the 

 plant grew until it took up so much space in 

 the room as to be actually in the way. 



A somewhat stiff, formal, but interesting 

 palm is the so-called ground rattan (Rhapis 

 flabellijormis). It is a slow grower and lasts 

 very well indeed in the house. The rhapis 

 seldom grows more than five or six feet high. 

 The stem is three-quarters of an inch to an 

 inch in diameter and is covered with a mass 

 of dark brown threads which are the remains 

 of the leaf sheaths. A cluster of very deeply 

 divided dark green leaves is borne on the 

 top of the stem, each of which is about a 

 foot in diameter. The rhapis differs from 

 most of the palms in that it produces suckers, 

 each of which sends up a stem so that in time 

 the plant will become as broad as it is long. 



The most beautiful dwarf palm in culti- 

 vation is Cocos Weddelliana, and as a house 

 plant it is extremely popular. The charac- 

 teristic leaves are developed at a very early 

 stage, and as the plant is a slow grower, it 

 retains its beauty for a long time. The 

 short stem of the C. Weddelliana bears numer- 

 ous gracefully arching leaves which are a 

 foot or more long and three or four inches 

 wide and remind one of a feather. The 

 leaflets are very slender, and silvery white 

 on the reverse. It is particularly useful in 

 fern dishes for table decoration as a centre 



