THE ELOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 361 



cut the main shoots back to within two or three inches of their 

 base, and as soon as the young shoots are three-quarters of an inch 

 long, shift into pots one size larger, and deal with them as advised 

 the previous season ; and continue the same treatment every spring 

 until they get too large, when they can be thrown away to make 

 room for others. 



The earliest of the winter-flowering kinds is the pretty white- 

 flowered ,caffra ; and then follow, in the order in which they are 

 named, gracilis autumnalis, pink, flowers small, but produced very 

 profusely ; colorans, white ; Jiyemalis, purplish-rose, tipped with 

 white, one of the very best ; Wilmoreana, rose, tipped with white ; 

 gracilis vernalis, like the autumn gracilis, but flowers in February. 

 In conclusion, it is only necessary to say that these directions apply 

 with equal force to the management of ten plants or ten thousand. 



THE CAMELLIA AS A HAKDY SHEUB. 



BY ROBEBT OTTBRIDGE. 



Church Walk Nursery, Stoke Newington, N. 



|?f EEHAPS many of the readers of this communication will 

 be surprised when told that Camellias can be grown and 

 flowered in the open-air in this country ; and also that 

 they are as hardy as a large number of shrubs used ex- 

 tensively for garden embellishment. Such, however, is 

 the case and in sheltered situations not too far north they may be 

 planted in beds out of doors with every reasonable chance of 

 their growing well and flowering freely. 



In advisinc the outdoor culture of Camellias, I am not recom- 

 mending the adoption of anything of an experimental character, 

 because it has repeatedly been proved that it can be done, and that, 

 too in a somewhat unfavourable situation. In confirmation of this, 

 let me cite an instance : — In the year 1852 a plantation of camellias 

 was formed by Mr. Gr. Taylor, a respected member of the horti- 

 cultural community, in his employer's gardens on Stamford Hill. 

 The plantation consisted of two large beds on the lawn, disposed 

 and planted in precisely the same manner as rhododendrons are 

 managed. The natural soil, a heavy loam, was taken out to a depth 

 of three feet, and replaced with a mixture of peat and loam, obtained 

 from "Wanstead, Essex. It is, however, of no consequence where 

 the soil comes from, provided the loam is silky in texture, and the 

 peat full of fibre. The beds were thus prepared, and in the spring 

 of the above-mentioned year were planted with a fine lot of half- 

 specimens, averaging three feet high, and comprising about sixty of 

 the best varieties known. Here they made rapid progress, aided by 

 the rains and night-dews, which are, no doubt, far superior to the 

 best of our showers from engines and syringes. They had and 

 required little or no attention beyond shortening here and there a 

 few rampant-growing shoots, to preserve the uniformity of the mass. 



