376 



THE HARDINESS OF THE CAMELLIA. 



and not suffer by the winter ; yet they are 

 tender, and by no means hardy in the mid- 

 dle states. 



To make the Camellia thrive in a fit, 

 where no fire is kept, it is necessary to re- 

 pot them in October, or sooner, into a pot 

 one size larger than the pot they are in the 

 time of repotting, provided the roots are 

 well matted around the ball ; if not, it is 

 not necessary to give them a larger pot, but 

 merely reduce the ball till you come to 

 roots, and put the plants into the same pots 

 with fresh soil, taking care to pack the earth 

 considerably harder around the roots of Ca- 

 mellias than most other plants you grow, or 

 they will not root freely. If this is not at- 

 tended to, they will be apt to get the earth 

 soured with the abundance of water they 

 receive while flowering, and especially when 

 they finish growing ; especially as the per- 

 son who waters is apt to continue the same 

 qtiantity of water after the growth is made, 

 under the impression, the warmer the wea- 

 ther they will require more water ; where- 

 as, they only require an immoderate quan- 

 tity during their time of growing and flow- 

 ering, (which the gardener is able to per- 

 ceive by their rapid absorption of moisture, 

 without any instructions.) After potting, 

 they are fit to be put into the place where 

 they are to remain over winter, without 

 artificial heat, and will be able to stand 12° 

 of frost, [i. e., a temperature of 20° above 

 zero.] On the other hand, if your Camel- 

 lias, with the roots matted around the pots 

 or tubs, are exposed to 8° or even 6° of 

 frost for a few days, you may say farewell 

 to them. They are dead to a certainty ; 

 Aey will look as if they were not injured 

 till the weather becomes warmer, when they 

 will speedily show what a decided effect 



the frost has had on them. It has, in this 

 case, penetrated through the pot, and made 

 the roots incapable of performing their pro- 

 per functions. Where there is abundance 

 of earth between the pot and roots of the 

 plants, no fears may be entertained of their 

 safety. However, it is necessary to cover 

 your pit with shutters [and mats in cold 

 weather,] about one hour before sunset, re- 

 moving the same every day (when the sun 

 makes his appearance,) about 8, A. M., if 

 your pit looks to the east, and about 10, A. 

 M., in a south exposure. In this latitude, 

 the weather must be extremely cold when 

 more frost gets into the pit in one night 

 than four hours' sun is able to dispel. Re- 

 spectfully yours. Jas. Ritchie. 



Kensington, Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 1849. 



[Mr. Ritchie's experience is quite to the 

 purpose, respecting the amount of cold which 

 this plant will bear ; and he is right in say- 

 ing that many evergreen plants, which 

 stand the English winters perfectly, are too 

 tender for the middle states ; as well as 

 that this is owing, not so much to low tem- 

 perature with us, as to our bright sun in 

 winter. On this account, complete shelter 

 from the sun in winter is the first necessity 

 for a half hardy or tender plant ; and we 

 have little doubt that if the Camellia will 

 bear the winter in England, at a moderately 

 low temperature, it will do so here in parts 

 of the country of the same mean tempera- 

 ture, provided the sun is kept from touching 

 the plant from November to March. A 

 large number of deciduous trees, on the 

 other hand, stand the winter much better 

 here than in England, because they are 

 perfectly dormant in winter, and because 

 they mature their wood better here than 

 there. Ed.] 



