89 



THE CAMELIA. 



It is so seldom that we get a new Camellia in any class supe- 

 rior to already existing kinds, that we consider ourselves for- 

 tunate in being able to present our readers this month with 

 the beautiful variety which forms the subject of our Plate. 

 It is one of a good many seedlings raised by Messrs. Jackson 

 of Kingston from C. Carswelliana, and flowered for the first 

 time in 1847 (quite a small weakly plant). Messrs. Jackson 

 thought it of very promising character, and " worked " some 

 plants of it ; from one of which the flower sent to Mr. An- 

 drews to figure was cut. Its chief merit we consider to be 

 its nearer approach to scarlet than any Camellia of good form 

 yet out. 



As regards its name, it was called Martinii in compliment 

 to "WiUiam Byam Martin, Esq., of Bank Grove, Kingston, 

 Surrey, a liberal patron of horticulture, and the possessor of 

 a magnificent specimen of Camellia reticulata, the finest in the 

 kingdom we believe, and most probably not surpassed even 

 in its own country ; it is seventeen feet high and nineteen feet 

 in diameter, with the vigour and density of a common laurel. 

 Last year it formed 6200 flower-buds, 3000 of which were 

 picked off by thinning, and the remaining 3200 produced 

 their handsome blossoms, some of them measuring ten inches 

 in diameter. 



The beautifill light Camellia, Countess of Ellesmere, 

 figured in the Florist for 1850, p. 115, and which received a 

 first-class certificate from the National Floricultural Society 

 on the 8th ult., also belongs to the same nurserymen, who 

 have thus been enabled to furnish the lovers of this charming 

 flower with two varieties of first-rate merit. Both sorts, we 

 doubt not, will find a place in every collection. 



With respect to the cultivation of the Camellia little need 

 be said to the experienced ; but as in the science of culture, 

 as in all other sciences, we must have beginners, we have 

 thought it well to add a hint or two for its management in 

 pots. 



The Camellia may be propagated by cuttings; but the 

 usual practice is to graft or inarch on the single and Mid- 

 dlemiss reds, cuttings of which root freely. After being 

 prepared, and potted in very sandy soil and watered, they 

 should be placed in a cold frame till calliced, and then intro- 

 duced into gentle bottom-heat, where they will soon form 

 roots ; they may be potted singly in small pots early in spring, 

 or as soon as they are rooted, and kept close and warm until 



NEW SERIES. VOL. II. NO. XVII. I 



