THE CAMELLIA JAPONICA. 



217 



be prevented or impeded, it soon becomes 

 gorged in the sap vessels, the heat of the 

 sun ferments it, and disease and death are 

 the result. Why is it that the seedlings, 

 found in the forest, are so healthy and so 

 productive? — (the original Seckel, for in- 

 stance.) It is because they have had a lit- 

 tle wholesome neglect ; or, rather, have 

 been left to the care of nature. Nature 

 never prunes, but always protects, and al- 

 ways mulches, when it is necessary. 



I have given you above my experience 

 for one season only ; but so far, I have 

 reason to congratulate myself on my suc- 

 cess, and am pleased to find that many of 

 your correspondents, who have pursued the 

 same course of treatment, have met with 

 like results. I firmly believe that by fol- 

 lowing up this treatment, I shall not only 

 preserve my pear trees from blight, but 

 that I shall also be able to enjoy the cher- 

 ry in perfection. 



I submit now, to you and your corres- 

 pondents, the following statements : 



1st. That the blight in the pear tree, is 

 caused by the fermenting of the sap in the 

 vessels, after the circulation has been im- 

 peded or suppressed by drouth. 



2d. That the bursting of the bark of 

 the cherry tree, and its consequent de- 

 cay in the bark, is produced by the same 

 cause. 



3d. That to the same cause may be at- 

 tributed the mildew of the grape ; in this 

 case, the blight taking place in the leaves 

 and fruit. 



I will close this by stating, that I never 

 have known a pear tree to blight when it 

 was planted in a warm, moist soil, and was 

 protected during drouth from the intense 

 heat of the sun. I never knew a cherry 

 tree to burst its bark, or fail to produce, in 

 a like situation. What is the experience 

 of yourself, and Professor Turner, on this 

 point? I could enlarge upon this subject, 

 and bring a strong array of facts to support 

 what I have written ; but I prefer waiting 

 for another season's experiment and obser- 

 vation. In common with others of your 

 correspondents, who have treated this sub- 

 ject in your columns, my desire is to awa- 

 ken attention to a subject that, to us in the 

 west, at least, is as important as anything 

 in the whole range of horticulture. 



Svlvanus. 



Cincinnati, Oct. 6, 1849. 



THE CAMELLIA JAPONICA. 



BY GEORGE GLENNY.* 



This handsome evergreen and richly flow- 

 ering plant is one of the noblest ornaments 

 of the green-house, and its robust and half 

 hardy constitution renders it one of the 

 "most desirable of floral subjects. It is a 

 splendid shrub or tree, — for it is as easily 

 cultivated one way as the other, — and is a 

 generally esteemed favorite among the 

 permanent ornaments in the conservatory. 

 The varieties are extremely numerous, the 

 species few; and we are indebted to Eng- 

 lish gardeners for most of the sorts in cul- 

 Vol. iv. 17 



tivation, very few having been imported 

 from China, and these, with trifling excep- 

 tions, appear to be only seedling varieties 

 like our own. Nothing can be less alike 

 in the same genus, perhaps, than the di- 

 minutive Sasanqua, and the monster reti- 

 culata, while the double white, and its 

 companions red and striped, and others, 

 form a sort of middle class in size, and 

 surpass both in beauty. None of the 

 thousand varieties reared in England seem 



* From the London Hort. Magazine. 



