328 THE FLORIST. 



they are increased by cuttings, but this is both a tedious and precarious 

 method of obtaining them, especially the double varieties. It is only 

 from seeds that we can expect new varieties, and of these, the single 

 red is most prolific : they should be sown as soon as they are ripe, in a 

 compost of one part loam, one part leaf mould, one part heath mould, 

 and one part silver sand ; after sowing, plunge the pots in a hot-bed, 

 and the seeds will vegetate in a month or six weeks : if, on the other 

 hand, the seeds are kept long, they will seldom vegetate in less than a 

 year, and the greater number not at all. Stocks raised from seed are 

 the best, but as these latter are seldom produced in any quantity in this 

 country, and are seldom imported in a fit state to vegetate, recourse is 

 had to some other source for the almost unlimited number annually 

 required. Layering may be considered as the best means of meeting 

 the demand, and it is accordingly much resorted to ; for this purpose 

 stools are planted, of the common red variety, or any of the common 

 sorts, in a cold frame or pit, and layers are made of the young wood of 

 the previous year, which will root freely, and make good stocks the 

 following season. 



On preparing soil for the Camellia, various opinions have been enter- 

 tained, and two growers of this tribe of plant can scarcely be found who 

 entirely agree in the preparation of their compost. The soil used by 

 nurserymen, and that used by gardeners, ought to be two very different 

 compositions : the nurseryman is looking to bulk of plant, and increase 

 of young wood ; while, on the other hand, the gardener's object is to 

 increase the proportion of blossoms. The soil most suitable for growing 

 the Camellia, and producing flowers, is two parts good loam from a 

 pasture, and two parts heath mould, which ought to be brought to the 

 compost yard at least twelve months previous to its being used, during 

 which time it should be freely exposed to the action of the atmosphere, 

 which is of great importance. The soil ought to be mixed, and broken 

 with the spade, never resorting to the detestable and often-practised 

 plan of sifting, which carries away and abstracts the decomposing 

 fibrous matter, which is the principal support of plants cultivated in 

 pots. 



The soil used by nurserymen ought to be that recommended above, 

 for seed sowing, which if used with the addition of a small portion of 

 w T ell-decomposed cow-dung, will have every tendency to produce young 

 wood, which is their chief object. 



In potting Camellias, great attention should be paid to secure a free 

 drainage, a circumstance of infinite importance to their welfare : also, 

 so to place the potsherds as to defy the entrance of the earthworm, 

 having for a second course a quantity of burnt clay, or potsherds, broken 

 about the size of horse beans ; and finally, a layer of dry sphagnum or 

 turf not decomposed, the quantity of each to be regula.ed by the size of 

 the pots. 



When the plants become rather large they may be placed in tubs, in 

 preference to large pots, if there is not the convenience of a conservatory 

 border for them. It may here be remarked with what apparent 

 pleasure the roots cling to the sides of a tub and receive refreshment, 

 and on the other hand how speedily they return whence they came, 



