Febrnary 14, 1867. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



U9 



Camellias, allow me to mention tlie remarkable growth which 

 one small plant of the sort named Targioui rosea made in 

 one year. I received it from Sir. Pearson last February, in a 

 three-inch pot, with only one shoot from the graft, which was 

 about 8 inches long. I immediately repotted it in a five-inch 

 pot, using fresh turf pulled into small pieces with the hand, 

 and now it has six fine shoots, averaging 6 inches in length, as 

 well as three fine blooms. 



I see at page 21G of the Journal, published on the 20lh of 

 last March, that Mr. Eobson, in commenting on Mr. Pearson's 

 article referred to at the beginning of this paper, is inchned 

 to disagree with him about the soil he recommends, and goes 

 on to say that he is " of opinion that the water a plaut is fed 

 with exercises as much influence on its well-doing as the soil 

 it is grown in." Taking what has come under my own obser- 

 vation as a criterion to go by, I hope Mr. Eobson will not 

 think me presumptuous if I beg to differ from him, for I am 

 of opinion that the time is approaching when such ingredients 

 as peat soil, leaf mould, &e., as forming part of the compost 

 considered essential for growing the Camellia to perfection, will 

 be numbered among the things that were. I q^uite agree with 

 Mr. Eobson in his partiahty for rain water ; but I have watered 

 Camellias with hard water which had remained in the tank for 

 soma time before being used, when rain water could not be pro- 

 cm-ed, and the results I have above described have been ob- 

 tained notwithstanding. 



In conclusion, after my experience of nearly three years in 

 Camelha-growiug in turf soil, I feel quite convinced that I have 

 witnessed a most signal proof of its superiority over any other 

 system. I agree with " T. L. C." in what he says about soil for 

 Cameilias. 



The dimensions of some of my Camellias, measured above 

 the rim of the pot, are as follow : — 



Bealii, 6» tuet by 5J. 

 Do. 54 feet by 4. 

 Mathotiana, 4 J feet by c 



IFra Amoldo di Brescia, 5 ft. by 4. 

 Aulica, 3* feet by 2^. 

 Coantess"' of Orkney, 3.; ft. by 2J. 



I am told that some of the .above specimens are the best in 

 England of their kind. They are dense compact plants, with 

 branches growing down over the rims of the pots. 



Having said so much about Camellias, another fact has come 

 vmder my experience respecting greenhouse Azaleas, which I 

 hope you will allow me to record. I have upwards of forty 

 Azaleas, the majority of which are young plants, varying in 

 size from 1 J foot by 1 foot to 3 feet by 2. although I have one or 

 two 4J feet by 3, measured above the rim of the pot. In June, 

 1865, they wanted repotting, and good turfy pe.at being a scarce 

 commodity in this locality, I had recourse to turf cut about 

 2 inches thick from a loamy pasture, and which had lain in a 

 heap exposed to the atmosphere for six months, adding a fair 

 proportion of sharp silver sand. In this compost, then, I 

 shifted my Azaleas. They were afterwards kept in a warm green- 

 house and frequently syringed, and the amazmg growth they 

 made during that and the following season surprised not a few ; 

 there is hkewise a decided improvement in the flowers they 

 have since produced. 



It is but fair to add that it is Mr. Pearson to whom I am 

 chiefly indebted for my acknowledged success in the cultivation 

 of the Camellia here ; but I have not had the " wrinkle " about 

 the Azalea from liim, if "wrinkle " I may call it. I am aware 

 that in some of the metropolitan nurseries they are in the 

 habit of using something like one-half tm'fv loam in their com- 

 post for the Azalea, but I have never heaid it recommended to 

 use turf entirely. It is not, therefore, without some misgivings 

 that I hazard the above startUng assertion in the face of the 

 entire gardening community. I may naturally expect that 

 some Azalea grower who has had more experience than myself 

 will come forward to confute what I have here advanced ; if so, 

 I must then endeavour to work up my writing powers in order 

 to make an effort to stand the brunt of his attack single-handed, 

 for I have had a plain practical proof of the utility of turf boU 

 for Azalea culture. 



The following is a Ust of some of the Azaleas and Camellias 

 I grow here : — 



AZ.IL,EAS. 



Adolpbi Sore pleuo. 



Barclayana. 



Broughtoni. 



Brilliaut. 



Criterion. 



Delicatissima. 



Duchesse Adelaide de Nassan. 



Danelsiaua purpurea. 



Uilecta. 



Duke of Devonshire. 

 Gledstanesi:, 

 Purpui-ea ma^ifica. 

 Pnestantissima. 

 Prince Albert. 

 Roi Leopold. 

 Smith's (rrandis. 

 Stanicyana, 

 Symmetry. 



Amadryas di Cuzano. 



Aulica. 



Alexina. 



Bealii. 



Countess of Orkney. 



Comtesse Boutourlin. 



Cup of Beauty. 



Counters of Ellesmero. 



Due de Bretai^ne. 



Double White. 



Donckelaarii. 



Fimbriata. 



Fra Aruoldo di Brescia. 



General Drouot. 



Guthriona. 



Herbertii. 



CAMELLIAS. 



Tmbricatft. * 



Jenny Lind (a beautiful va- 

 riety). 

 3Iahoiuet. 

 Mathoti.iiia. 

 Marcliiouess of Eseter. 

 Ochroleuca. 

 Queen of Euf^land. 

 Queen of Denmark. 

 Uoi Leopold. 

 Knbini. 

 Story i. 

 Targioni. 



Targioni rosea (line varietyt- 

 Teutonia. 

 Yaltevaredo. 



-E. Flemin'g, Hopeton House, Scaforth. 



AN ORANGE-HOUSE IN JANUARY. 



I HAD the unexpected pleasure, a few days since, of a loot 

 into a neighbour's house devoted to the culture of dessert 

 Oranges. I have seen many conservatories gay with forced 

 flowers in this month, but never anything in gardening more 

 beautiful and interesting than this collection of Orange trees is. 

 full bearing, not only of fruit but flowers ; the scene seemed 

 so enlivening, so full of the sweet south, to which the agreeablo 

 temperature of 65° largely contributed. 



The house, which is about 12 feet wide and span-roofed, is 

 heated by eight four-inch hot-water pipes, four on each side. 

 Two on each side are on the floor of the house, and covered 

 with slates, so as to form a surface gently heated, on which the 

 pots stand ; and two on each side are above the surface, so 

 that the air of the house can, when required, be thoroughly 

 heated. The path is in the centre, and one border is filled with 

 Tangierine Oranges mostly in pots ; a few planted out grow 

 with extraordinary vigour, but do not bear so freely while 

 yoang a? those in pots. The other border is filled with the 

 sorts that bear largo fruit, such as the Maltese Blood, St. 

 Michael's, and others. The Tangierine Oranges, which com- 

 mence to ripen in October, were nearly over, with the exception 

 of a few which had been retarded by placing the trees in a cool 

 house in November and part of December — this delicious 

 little Orange, it seems, may bo kept on the trees in great per- 

 I fection for five months by retarding — but the large Oranges 

 wore in full perfection, and nothing in fruit culture could be 

 imagined more beautiful than the blight evergreen trees from 

 which their fruit, like golden globes, hung so gracefully, with 

 here and there a tree in full bloom filling the ah- with fragrance. 



So much for the intellectual treat ; but there are doubtless 

 many of jour readers who would like to know something about 

 the sensual — viz., whether these tempting golden fruit are as 

 good to eat as pleasant to view. I will, therefore, endeavour to 

 describe what I tasted. I must commence with that sort which, 

 like the Eibston Pippin among our Apples, is unrivalled among 

 home-grown Oranges — the Maltese Blood Orange ; and thereby 

 hangs a tale, for it is found that Oranges from the same tree 

 vary in colour, some having their flesh red, and others pale, 

 like common Oranges. In 1865, after the hot summer, the 

 Maltese Oranges here were all Blood Oranges ; but this season 

 the fruit from the same trees have scarcely any trace of the 

 deep red tinge, except a few fully exposed to the sun, which 

 are veined with red. As to the flavour of those I partook of, it 

 was really exquisite, and quite unlike that of the imported 

 Maltese Oranges, which is rich and sweet, but flat ; while the 

 flavour of those I had the pleasure of plucking from the trees 

 on this frosty January morning was not only rich and sweet, 

 but brisk, and the flesh most agreeably crisp, with a fine aroma. 

 I felt when tasting them that I had never eaten any Orangeg 

 more deHcious, even when plucking them from trees growing 

 in that to us enviable chmate — perpetual summer. 



My attention was next di'awn to Tangierine Oranges, sozoe 

 of which were still in perfection. There are three or four 

 varieties of this pretty little Orange, which is only good when 

 fresh from the tree. Their aroma is so volatile, that within 

 forty-eight hours after being gathered they are comparatively 

 flat, like the imported fruit sold in the fruit-shops in London . 

 in December and Januarj-. Some of your readers who have 

 visited Lisbon and Malta may, perhaps, remember those charm- 

 ing Orange bushes, so plentiful there, with small leaves and 

 cjvered with fruit. In the Lisbon gardens they seldom attain 

 a height above 6 feet. The Maltese variety, called in that 

 island the Mandarin, seems more robust in its habit, and ite 

 fruit is larger and more compresied than its relative the trae 



