150 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
that all these palms, Livistonia sinen¬ 
sis and L. australis included, need 
shade and very rich soil in order to 
grow them successfully. Many of the 
pigmies of the family, particularly the 
species of the genus Chamaedorea, 
Geonoma and others thrive well in 
sheds from which frost can be exclud¬ 
ed, and on verandas. 
I cannot refrain from mentioning in 
this connection, as a matter of fact, 
that the two Fan Palms from Lower 
California, Washingtonia robusta and 
W. Sonorae, thrive better in our state 
than they do in California. And I also 
want to impress on the mind of my 
reader that these two palms are the 
coming avenue palms par excellence 
for Florida, thriving as they do equal¬ 
ly well in Jacksonville and in Miami. 
Majestic specimens of these palms are 
met with all over the state, especially 
in St. Augustine in the grounds of the 
Ponce de Leon, etc., in Federal Point, 
Lake Charm and elsewhere. 
Florida, the home of so many wild 
species, should everywhere abound in 
groups and avenues of palms. They 
imbue dignity, beauty and an inde¬ 
scribable charm to every place where 
they have been rightly used. The Cab¬ 
bage Palmetto should always be plant¬ 
ed in groups or avenues while the mas¬ 
sive Canary Island Date or the Indian 
Date look very beautiful as isolated 
specimens on the lawn, the former hav¬ 
ing a spread of 30 feet in diameter. A 
group of the various species of hardy 
Cocos is very charming, particularly 
when magnolias, araucarias, cupressus 
torulosa and other evergreens form the 
background. 
Small palms are very cheap. Set 
out in rich soil and carefully attended 
to, they soon attain their unique beau¬ 
ty. They increase from year to year 
in beauty and in value. With a com¬ 
paratively small outlay the most ex¬ 
quisite landscape pictures can be creat¬ 
ed, the like not to be seen in any other 
part of our country. How barren and 
desolate do our small towns and cities 
generally look. It has always been a 
pleasure to me to return to Orlando 
with its beautiful garden homes. This 
state is pre-eminently the home of 
countless winter sojourners and pleas¬ 
ure seekers, not only from the north 
but even from Europe, people who are 
not only equipped with a full pocket- 
book, but also with a broad mind, an 
excellent education and a good taste. 
They will not stay in desolate places. 
In order to attract them many things 
are essential, but I think nothing is 
more imporant than to beautify our 
cities and rural homes with tropical 
vegetation. Every community in 
Florida, every city and town should 
not only embellish their homes but 
also should create attractive public 
places. Large and well laid out parks 
are a necessity ol every larger town, 
not only in an educational sense for 
the residents but primarily to attract 
the winter visitor. Such men like the 
late H. B. Plant, and in our days, Mr. 
H. M. Flagler, were well aware of 
this fact. There are thousands upon 
thousands every winter pouring to 
the East Coast, to St. Augustine, Palm 
Beach and Miami, because these places 
have a world-wide fame as points of 
beauty. And this beauty mainly con- 
