Evening star., 1897-07-31
put TEE PALMS OUT DOORS.
Plants That Are Likely to BE Killed
by Too Much Attention.

by Too Much Attention.
From tie New York sun.
The difficulty OF keeping palms ami rub
ber trees during summer has become a
source of much annoyance TO many owners
of these plants.
W. A Manda, who exports and grows
from seeds thousands of these plants. when
consulted about the difficulty. said:
More plants are killed by kindness Than
py neglect. In many instances fine palms
or rubber trees are lost by too much atten-
tion The best way TO treat them in The
summer is to put them cut doors In this
climate it may be done safely on about
May -. A half shady spot should be se-
lected. where they will receive plenty of
hight and air. hut be protected from the di-
rect rays of the sun. In the case of palms
the pots should be either plunged In he
earth or set on the ground and the soil
should he hilled up around them. 1t is not
good plan TO set plant in the ground
unless il is very sickly. OF the two meth
DDS l prefer hilling the earth up around
the pot, because so often the shady spot
IN a garden or lawn is not well drained,
and there is danger of the plants being
injured by the cold soil or getting water
salt. The result in both instances is roi-
ting OF the roots.
My treatment for palms during the
summer would be to -epot them before put
ting them cut, ard the best soil is a light
nbrous loan, which insures good drainage.
A piece of inverted crock, a few small
stones, or some bits of charcoal should he
placed in the bottom of each pot for the
same purpose. The earth should be pressed
FIRMLY around the plants with a top dress
ing CT pulveriZed sheep manure. In billing
up the earth around the pots il is best 10
use large pot of short manure OF saw
dust mixed with earth.
Many persons allow handsome plants to
starve for want of water. They water The
top earth and never think of the bottom,
u her. u-af for Sh hnntd l..
ii runs out through the bottom of the jar.
Then, too. the leaves and stems should l,e
sprayed or sponged of with a weak solu-
tion of ammonia and water-about one
drop of ammonia to a quart of water. This
should be done once or twice a week. since
palms feed almost as much through their
leaves as with their roots. When You
tice the points cf the leaves dying they
have been kept too dry. When the plants
turn sckly yellow there has been TOO
much moisture.
"A rubber tree is one of the easiest of all
plants to keep. In the summer ii il best
to set II out in the ground in just such
locality as 1 have described as best suited
to palms. If 1T grows too tall. cut OF the
top of the stem. There is necessity to
cover the wound. 1t will lose a little sap,
but not enough to injure il. In short
while you will have fine. healthy boughs
from every eye on the main stem. and your
tree will be much improved in appearance
The plants should be lifted early enough
to become thoroughly established before
cold weather begins Both rubbe-s and
palms should he taken i1s a5oGt October I.
In potting rubber plants the same sort of
soil should tie used as for palms.
You Will find that plants cared for in
this way will continue healthy and vigor-
Gus during the entire year with ordinary
care. They should never be fed in winter.
as they grow very little and have no call
for fooi. Never try such experiments on
rubber trees applying castor oil to their
roots, nor the solution of iron TO palms.
They cannot possibly be a benefit, and may
prove a serious injury.
Rubber trees are propagated quite cas-
lily. You make a deep cash in the upper
part of bough and thrust in small bit
of moss, to hold il open. Then wrap The
place with a handful of moss which must
be kept well alostened. In a short while
roots will form all around the wound.
When fhey begin to come through the
moss cut off the branch and plant il, moss
and all. in pot The result will be a
good, healthy young rubber tree OF your
own raising