70 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



last ; Princess Alice, violet, ricli and dark ; Victor Hugo, a really good 

 yellow, which is saying a great deal for any hyacinth; Lord Elgin, rosy 

 salmon and large ; Honneur d'Overeen, purplish crimson ; Lord Clyde, 

 brownish lilac, white eye, a rich and charming flower, the spike large and the 

 bells beautifully formed ; General Havelock is the best black, as it was last 

 season, when it shared honours with Prince Albert. 



EoYAL HoBTicuLTtJRAL SociETT. — A general meeting of the Society wa3 

 held on Tuesday, the 19th, at the new gardens, South Kensington, for the 

 purpose of electing fellows, and for a ballot for the distribution of seeds. 

 The Eight Eev. the Lord Bishop of Winchester occupied the chair. Among 

 the numerous body of fellows present we observed the Earl of Erne, Lord J. 

 Manners, Judge Des Barres, Sir Peter Van Notten Pole, Bart., Sir J. P. 

 Boileau, Mr. S. G-urney, M.P., Lieut.-General Fox, etc. Among the fellows 

 elected were the Eight Hon. the Earl of Aylesford, the Earl of Gilford, the 

 Hon. W. F. Byng, Lady Murray of Edinburgh, Lady Hume Campbell, and 

 about 130 others. After the ordinary meeting had been concluded, a special 

 general meeting was held to receive the report of the council. Dr. Liudley 

 read this document, which stated that the probable cost of completing the 

 substantial works in the gardens would be £70,000 instead of £50,000, as 

 stated in a previous report. The council had received already nearly 

 £40,000 on debentures, and they recommended the Society to give them 

 express powers for raising an additional £10,000. Without that sum the 

 council would be unable to complete the gardens on the plans which they 

 considered advisable, and which had received the sanction of his Eoyal 

 Highness the President of the Society. On the motion of Mr. C. Went- 

 worth Dilke, seconded by Mr. H. T. Hope, the report was adopted, and 

 power was given to raise the additional £10,000 as required. 



HINTS ON THE CULTUEE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE 



CAMELLIA. 



Although there are but few plants which 

 die a harder death than the camellia, yet it 

 requires some practical skill to grow and 

 bloom this plant well. The camellia may 

 he propagated from cuttings, seeds, graft- 

 ing, or inarching with equal success, if 

 properly managed. 



The most proper time of the year to pro- 

 pagate from cuttings is about the beginning 

 of October. The best sorts fortius purpose 

 are the single red and the Warataw. The 

 cuttings ought to be planted in pots filled 

 with silver-sand, then jjlaced in a close 

 frame or under hand-glasses, until about 

 the beginning of December. The cuttings 

 afterwards ought to be placed in a gentle 

 heat. The best method is to fill a frame 

 with tan, and place them in it ; the air in 

 the frame should not exceed 60' of Fahren- 

 heit in the winter months. The heat ought 

 to be increased as tlie days Itngthen. The 

 best time to inarch the camellia is the 

 months of March and August. None but 

 the yonng shoots of the same season will 

 grow in August ; but in the spring, branches 

 of three or four years old will readily grow 



by inarching. An erroneous idea prevails 

 among many who grow the camellia as 

 regards the method of inarching. Many 

 inarch large branches of the double sorts 

 on the single, with the intention of forming 

 large plants at once ; expecting by this 

 method to gain several years : but they 

 ai'e wofuUy mistaken ! Plants so treated 

 oftentimes stand still for many yenrs with- 

 out ever making any fresh shoots, unless 

 the stocks they are worked on be in a very 

 healthy state ; even then the shoots they 

 make are seldom more than an inch or two 

 in length. 



Where tlie stocks are not well rooted, 

 grafting ought to be resorted to. The bpst 

 month ibr grafting the camellia is Decem- 

 ber, as the sun's rays at that time are not 

 as powerful as in the spring. The grafted 

 camellias ought to be treated in the same 

 way as the cuttings after their introduction 

 into heat. We have seen a shoot of Camel- 

 lia reticulata, which had grown to the 

 height of four feet and one inch in one 

 season, the second year from its being in- 

 arched, The slock on which this shoot 



