1879.] TRANSPLANTING & POTTING CAMELLIAS. 133 



and tubs ; in other cases, to give room to Palms, Tree-Perns, Dra- 

 caenas, Yuccas, &c. I have been engaged in lifting large plants of 

 Cibotium princeps, with a spread of fronds of nearly twenty feet ; 

 Dicksonia antarctica and D. squamosa, ten feet over, which are now 

 nearly twenty feet ; as well as Palms, Dracaenas of the Yeitchii type, 

 and others, — and in every case with satisfactory results. Camellias can 

 be lifted as safely and satisfactorily as a Cupressus or a Portugal 

 Laurel, provided the work is executed carefully by persons com- 

 petent to do it, and at the proper season. In such cases, I would 

 recommend the chief to be there to see that such work is properly 

 carried out, and not left to those who care but little if the plant lives 

 or dies, and who are ignorant of its requirements. 



The proper time for carrying out such operations has been referred 

 to. Some cultivators repot all their plants in the spring, and say, 

 because growth is well commenced and the roots are active, this is the 

 proper season. I prefer the autumn, after growth is completed and the 

 flower-buds beginning to swell. Their roots are then active, and the 

 plants are less liable to be damaged than when they are growing in 

 the spring. To lift them when the growth is advancing apace checks 

 them more or less, and consequently impedes the rapid progress of the 

 young shoots. If lifted in the autumn, while the roots are active, 

 they soon take to the new soil, and are ready for a good start 

 in the spring. In some cases, I have seen the following season's 

 growths vigorous and fine, and no one would know that they had 

 been removed, and scarcely a flower-bud fell. 



A number of Camellias in pots came under my notice some seasons 

 ago. They were in a very unsatisfactory state, the soil being sour, 

 and some of the plants nearly washed out of their pots with water. 

 They had usually thrown off the greater number of their flower-buds. 

 The growth of the plants in question was completed in August, 

 and the buds began to form. They were then turned out of their 

 pots, the sour soil carefully taken from the few roots they had, and 

 were again repotted in smaller pots, using plenty of sand amongst 

 the compost, with the idea of getting some fresh roots and giv- 

 ing them a liberal shift the following season. After being potted, 

 they were plunged in a slight bottom-heat, in a north aspect, keeping 

 the tops cool. By the time the flowers expanded, the plants had 

 made a good quantity of fine healthy roots, lost only a very small 

 percentage of their bloom, and did all that could be desired the fol- 

 lowing season. Wm. Bardney. 



Norris Green, West Derby. 



